and thy gracious Providence we being defended from the Power and malice and preserved in safety from the fear of our enemies may never be hurt terrified or disturbed but may pass our time which thou shalt afford us on this earth in rest from our foes and quietness in our own minds Grant us O Lord therefore this Peace for the sake as it was obtained through the merits of thy Son Iesus Christ our Saviour Amen The Analysis of the third Collect for Aid against all Perils This Collect hath only two Parts 1. The Petitions for 1. Mystically Knowledge Lighten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord Literally Comfort 2. Safety intimating 1. The means by which we must be delivered and by thy great mercy defend us 2. The evils from which from all perils and dangers 3. The time in which of this night 2. The motive urged to obtain them for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Practical Discourse on the third Collect at Evening Prayer § 5. LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord The declining of the day doth now mind us of the approaching darkness which will shortly wrap us in the shadows of the night And what Petition more seasonable then with holy David to beseech God to enlighten our darkness (o) Psal 18.28 Vul. Deus meus illumina tenebras meas For the night is sad and terrible in it we can see nothing with our bodily eys to entertain or to cheer us and we seem exposed to all the mischieâ—s (p) Versuta frans callida amat tenebris obtegi Prud. Ovid. Metam 2. Conscia culpae Conspectum lucemque fugit tenebrisque pudorem Celat John 3.20 Job 24.17 of Sathan and those instruments of his who fly the light and hope to cover their sin with this sable Mantle our dangers are many and our fears are sometimes more especially if our eyes be closed by unbelief as well as darkness If we behold not the Divine Providence watching over us and the Angels encamping round about us the very apprehension of the perils of a dismal night may damp our joy and startle our courage and makes us cry out with the Prophets servant (q) 2 Kings 6.15 16 17. What shall we do But let us intreat the Lord to fulfil his promise (r) Psal 112.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccl. 5.17 Psal 97.11 c. Adrian Isagoge that light may arise in our darkness that is in Scripture phrase comfort in our sadness That our hearts may by faith and cheerful thoughts by the assurance of his providence and the operations of his Grace be joyful and pleasant and that the shine of his countenance may make our nights bright as the day illuminated by the Meridian Sun For the inward comforts of Gods Spirit and a sense of his care and favour when the Soul is in fear or sadness do cheer and refresh more then a suddain light doth the wandring Travellour who is misled in a gloomy night These make our dwellings a Goshen while the wicked have thoughts black and dismal and Aegypt is veiled in a horrid shade and terrified with the dark side of the Cloud while the people of God are led all the night thorough with a light of fire so that the darkness and light to them are equally safe and comfortable Or if we desire to spiritualize the Petition more we may take occasion from the approaching night to enlarg our meditations upon our spiritual ignorance and blindness by nature by which our Souls are veiled and in the dark so that we often wander out of the way We stumble in the day and are in danger to run into the shadow of death till the day spring from on high visit us and give us that true knowledg which is usually set out under the name of light (s) Luke 2.32 Hebr. 6.4 illuminati i. e. edocti Wherefore let us humbly beseech our gracious Lord to let the Sun of righteousness arise upon us for whoever follows him doth not wander nor walk in darkness (t) John 8.12 and that we may take heed to Gods holy word as to a light shining in a dark place (u) 2 Pet. 1.19 and a sure guide to true blessedness And then our knowledg shall increase and we shall keep the right path till we arrive to that eternal light which shall never be extinguished When our hearts are clouded with greif shadowed with ignorance and benummed with dreadful â—pâ—rehensions we are taught to lift up our thoughts to the Father of lights and the God of all comfort who dwells in that light to which no mortal eye can approach whose Countenance is cleer as the sun and bright as lightning And if we can by our beseechings obtain his favour to shine upon us no doubt it will turn our night into day our sorrows into the joyes of the Morning While we are in the darksome cell of this lower world we think of our glorified brethren who dwell in a perpetual brightness and everlasting light and we long to be with them when it may please God But in the mean time we hope he will support and recreate us with some glimpses of those beams which they have the constant and full fruition of § 6. And by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night Comfort and safety are those two things which make a happy night And of whom should we ask these but of God the Lord who is a light and defence (x) Psal 84.11 The hopes of his love makes it comfortable But least we should be deceived in that comfort his mercy and power must keep us safe which here we earnestly desire We may easily perceive we are most miserable without his Providence especially in the night season for then Sathan prepares most violently to assault us supposing it is his hour and the power of darkness And alas how easily may we then be enticed with pleasure transported with malice and revenge or disturbed with evil fancies and imaginations When the Soul is heavy the Senses dull the stomack loaden the flesh strong and the reason weak (y) Stomachus aeger mens somnolenta animus occupatus tunc omne nefas suadere contendunt quando nullus arbiter culpae nullus criminis conscius nullus potest esse erro is testis Ambros in 8. par 119. Psal when the Curtain is drawn and we think no eyes see us neither judg witness nor accuser can espy us how open are our Souls then to all Dangerous temptations And yet our temporal concerns are not more safe for how soon may we be seized by diseases or suddain death or made miserable by theives and Robbers burnings or inundations Are not our lives and limbs estate and friends liable to loss and mischief both suddenly and unavoidably Go we then with all speed to our merciful Father and let us represent our condition to him the consideration whereof
will humble us and make our request more zealous and mollifie him and make him more ready to grant them By his great mercy he will be moved to compassion to see us chained by night and sleep helpless and exposed to all mischiefs of soul and body and will send his grace to defend our souls and his Angels to guard our bodies that none of these perils shall hurt us And then our morning Praises must own it as an Act of great pitty How dare you suffer your eyes to sleep in the midst of such armies of Perils before you have besought him that never slumbers nor sleeâ—s to save you from them But if any be so confident it is not courage but desperate stupidity and inconsideration that makes him so daring The good man begs for Protection for this night and so again for the next and every time with a new Devotion having warmed his heart first with apprehensions of his own dangers and insufficiency to escape them § 7. For the love of thine only Son our Saviour Iesus Christ Amen Although with the Disciples we may be somewhat affraid when we enter into the cloud yet we must beware the darkness do not shut up the eye of our Faith by which we may behold him in whom God is well pleased when our bodily eyes are closed And if we discern him by Faith that very sight will make our darkness to be light For we may run to him and approach the Throne of Grace with him in our Armes The Molossian King was by law obliged to grant any Petition offered by one that brought his Son with him And the Kiâ—g of heaven cannot deny us when we most truly and humbly disclaim our own merits and beg his Protection for the love he bears to the holy Jesus who was the delight of his Soul from all eternity and yet â—e became one with us in his incarnation and made us one with him in our regeneration and we are the members of his body and the price of his bloud so that the Father loves us in and for him that have nothing attractive or lovely in our selves Again we intreat him to save us by all the love which Jesus bears unto us to whom we are neer as his own flesh deerer then his own life more esteemed then fallen Angels or a thousand worlds For his delight is with the Sons of men (z) Prov. 8.31 Wherefore we beseech our heavenly Father by that which will moove his bowels towards us by his own everlasting love to us and his affection to his only Son and by the inexpressible love of that his Son to us to give us a night comfortable and safe We are in darkness but our head is in a never ceasing light and he that gave him to redeem us from eternal darkness will not suffer us to perish in spiritual darkness nor leave us exposed to the mischiefs of one night that will so soon be over passed If our affections be as fervent as this argument is foâ—ceable 't is sure this Petition will not be denyed The Paraphrase of the third Collect for Aid against all Perils LEt the assurance of thy Providence the comforts of thy grace and the beams of thy favour Lighten our darkness and remove the discomfort of the approaching night we beseech thee to make in sweet and safe to us O Lord thou Father of lights and by thy great mercy behold and pitty the various miseries and mischiefs that we thy poor helpless Creatures are exposed unto That thou mayest preserve and defend us in our souls and bodies estate and friends from all perils and dangers which might befall us in any part of this night grant this dear Father not for our merits but for the love thou bearest to the person of the only Son and to us for his sake since he is our Saviour even Jesus Christ our Lord and our Redeemer Amen SECTION XVI Of the Collects for the King and the Royal Family The Analysis of the Prayer for the Kings Majesty This Prayer hath two general Parts 1. The Confession of the King of Heaven acknowledging 1. His great goodness O Lord our heavenly Father 2. His Supream Authority high and mighty King of Kings Lord of Lords the only ruler of Princes 3. His Universal Providence who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth 2. The Petitions for his Vicegerent on Earth requesting 1. A special Providence over him most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our most gracious Soveraign Lord King CHARLES 2. All kinds of blessings â—or him 1. Spiritual 1. Grace aâ—d so replenish him with the grace of thy holy spirit that he may alwaies incline to thy will and walk in thy way 2. Gifts endue him plenteously with heavenly gifts 2. Temporal 1. Prosperity grant him in health and wealth long to live 2. Victory strengthen him that he may vanquish and overcome all his enemies 3. Eternal with the general motive and finally after this life he may attain everlasting joy and felicity through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen A Practical Discourse on the Prayer for the Kings Majesty § 1. O Lord our heavenly Father The Almighty and Eternal God is without dispute the King of Heaven and Earth and supream governor of all the world But since his throne is in Heaven he is pleased to constitute Princes his Deputies on the Earth which he hath given to the Children of men (a) Psal 115.16 Wherefore since by him Kings reign (b) Prov. 8.15 Nos judicium Dei suscipimus in Imperatoribus qui gentibus illos praefecit id in eis seimus esse quod Deus voluit ideoque salvum volumus esse quod Deus voluit Tertul Apol. c. 32. we submit to his appointment of them and revere his Majesty in them and to him we make our supplications for them who hath power to defend them as well as authority to create them And he must needs have a peculiar regard toward them and love to them because they are anointed by him to administer his rights among us This hath encouraged all Nations to pray for their Governors so universally as if it had been an agreement among all mankind To omit the Heathen sacrifices and Prayers for the Cities and Emperors we shall find two Psalms (c) Psal 20. Psal 72. which were used by the Jews as Forms of Prayer for the King and both by Gods command and the desire of the Princes of the Gentiles who then were rulers over that people supplications were made to God in their behalf (d) Ezra 6.10 Jerem. 29.7 by those Jews who were under their protection But to come nearer we Christians are most expresly commanded by God and his holy Apostle (e) 1 Tim. 2.1 2. In obsequio quotidiano pro regibus pro his qui in sublimitate positi sunt orandum est Chrys in 1 Tim. 2. Pro potestatibus seculi Tertul. Apol. Obsecramus
all outward happiness that the Queen may be fruitful the Prince healthful and the whole family numerous and fortunate united in the bonds of an indissoluble love and that there may never want a man of them to sit upon the throne for ever Let not Traiterous Projectors be more zealous to cut off these hopes then we are to pray to God to discover and disappoint them let us beg that we may not provoke him to punish us in the decay of that Royal house the establishment whereof we should wish more then that of our own families because the welfare of so many are dependent on it and the consequences of change dismal and uncertain Therefore we will heartily pray they may have all the happiness they can wish in this world and so enjoy it that they may not loose the glorious Crown of Eternity in the world to come for which no temporal greatness or pleasures can make them a satisfaction Amen The Paraphrase of the Prayer for the Royal Family O Almighty and all-sufficient Lord God the fountain of life and inexhaustible spring of all goodness As we have begged thy blessing for thine anointed so also we humbly beseech thee in order to his comfort and our benefit and the good of future times continually to bless our gracious Queen Catherine and the illustrious Prince James Duke of York that the succession may be secured by the preservation and encreas of them and all the branches of the Royal family And that they may please thee and become blessings to us endue them with the best of all endowments thy holy Spirit to direct them in all virtue and enrich them with the most durable of all riches thy heavenly grace to make them exemplary and rich in good works keep them from all traiterous designs and prosper them with all kind of happiness which this world can afford to encourage them in well-doing and because this happiness must end give them at the conclusion thereof a blessed exchange and bring them to thine everlasting Kingdome of joy and peace there to reign with thee for ever through the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Amen SECTION XVII Of the two last Prayers The Analysis of the Prayer for the Clergy and People This Prayer hath three Parts 1. The Preface in which God is acknowledged in 1. His Excellent Attributes Almighty and everlasting God 2. His Wonderful Works who alone workest great marvels 2. The Petitions expressing 1. For whom we pray Clergy send down upon our Bishops and Curates People and all Congregations committed to their charge 2. For what we pray 1. Grace to fit them for duty the healthful spirit of thy grace 2. A Blessing on their endeavours and that they may truly please thee pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing 3. The Argument to enforce them Grant this O Lord for the honour of our advocate and mediator Iesus Christ Amen A Practical Discourse on the Prayer for the Clergy and People § 1. ALmighty and everlasting God who alone workest great marvels As we have made our supplications before for our Temporal Governors that we under them may have all those outward blessings which will make our lives comfortable here so we now continue to pray for our Spiritual Guides that with them we may receive all those Graces and inward blessings which will make our souls happy hereafter And as we are members of the Church as well as the State we must pray for those things which are requisite to the preservation and felicity of both joyntly and severally since they mutually support each other And as the union of men into Polities and civil Societies is designed for the securing our Bodies and Estates and the obtaining of external prosperity so the union of Christians by one Spirit into one Faith and to one another by the bonds of love is intended by God for the edification of our souls and the securing our eternal inheritance Wherefore let us remember our Mystical as well as Political union our souls as well as our bodies and most devoutly imitate the best examples in calling (x) John 17.20 Deut. 33.11 upon God for his Church and People and especially for the Ministers thereof as the Scripture injoyns us (y) Psal 132.9 Ephes 6.18 19. and as the Apostle St. Paul so often particularly intreats those he writes unto (z) Coloss 4.3 1 Thess 5.25 to do And for this we have in all ages many testimonies of holy men who both in their publique and private worship did ever beg for the peace and welfare of the Church more then any of their private concerns With which noble spirit if our breasts be possessed this excellent Form is here daily presented to us to be offered to God with fervent affections which is so contrived that the very method and phrase if duly considered may furnish us with many affecting meditations to improve our devotion in the use of it The Introduction sets God before us in those admirable Attributes and wonderful Works which declare him every way fit to be called upon for his Church and mind us what he hath done for it It is he that first gathered his Church out of obstinate Jews and ignorant Heathens by his Almighty Power and who hath by the same Omnipotence either preserved it from or supported it against the malice of Sathan the rage of Persecutors the subtility of Hereticks and the blind zeal of factious Dividers so that it continues to this very day and shall do to the end of the world because our Redeemer ever lives to intercede for us and hath promised to be with us (a) Matth. 16.18 chap. 28. ver ult Heb. 7.25 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnis Ecclesia quae fit propter Deum firma permanebit Dic. Rab. for ever Our God is everlasting and the duration of the Church relies on the indeficiency of the Divine Nature which ever lives and ever loves it and is as powerful and sufficient to support and supply it now as ever in former ages History can describe and our Fathers can tell us what marvellous works he hath done for the benefit thereof how many miracles he wrought for the confirmation of his truth to the conviction of its enemies and the strengthening of the members thereof In the first times he did wonderfully inspire the Apostles with the Holy Ghost and power to work miracles by which (b) Acts 2.4 Chap. 9.17 Chap. 19.6 2 Tim. 1.6 1 Tim. 1.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum in loc their successors were distinguished for some time till the world did believe And afterwards though the operation were not so visible because it was not so necessary (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost l. 4. de Sacerdotio Necessaria fuerunt antequam crederet mundus ad hoc ut crederet Aug. Civ De. 22. yet the
left in my misery for I have forfeited my relation and am no more worthy to be called thy Son yet I hope thou wilt not let me perish who feedest thy meanest servants A Meditation preparatory to Prayer when we doubt of the favour of God to us HE that hath a considerable request to make to an earthly King must approach without a present in his hand but my request is to the King of Kings to whose laws I have been disobedient false to his Government refractory to his summons and ingrateful for his former favours But what can I offer to him that needs nothing what can I give to him whose both my self and all I have are his favour indeed is so sweet so desirable and so universal a comprehension of all happiness that I could freely give all I have or can do or may procure for the purchase of it but the whole world is a vanity to him neither can such trifles blind his eyes or bind his hands buy his mercy to the unworthy or pervert his justice from the sinner I could methinks expose my body to the sharpest torments my soul to the heaviest sorrows and my life to the cruelest Tyrant if I were sure of his everlasting mercy afterwards and would account my self happy in the purchase but it cost more to redeem a soul I can give nothing but it is his already and I can suffer nothing but what I have deserved what then oh where shall I have a peace-offering which may not be dispised I am told nothing is more acceptable then a broken heart t is strange can an heart polluted with the guilt and enslaved to the Power of sin stupid to apprehend slow to desire and impatient to wait for and unable to perform any good but witty to invent and vigorous to prosecute unsatiable to desire and unwearied to pursue all evil and now more vile then ever by reflecting upon its own vileness shaken with fears torn in pieces with sorrow and even a terror to it self miserable and poor blind and naked can this heart be a fit sacrifice for so glorious and all-seeing so holy and pure a God can he like that which I abhor how can it be but let me recall that hasty word for he hath said it who best knows what will please himself and if he value it it is worthy for the true worth of every thing is to be judged by his estimation of it Who knows but such a broken heart may be a greater evidence of his power and mercy a fitter instrument of his praise and glory a plainer table to describe his grace and draw his image on then any other Such a heart I have and if this serve I am happy I will give it freely to thee oh Lord who despisest not the meanest gift if there be sincerity in the giver It was broken before with fear but it is now dissolved with love I am ashamed it is no better but thy mercy is the greater in accepting it and it will become better by being thine oh how am I filled with admiration of the freeness and fulness of thy mercies in comparison of which the greatest humane compassion seems cruelty and I dare proclaim to all that in thee are all the mercies of the world united and thou art mercy it self in the highest degree if my disobedience and negligence contempt and ingratitude could have separated thee from thy mercy I had now met thee in fury taking vengeance without pitty for I have seemed to live as if I had designed to Dare thee to turn away thy self from me and to try thy utmost patience the least part of which baseness would have turned my best friends in the world against me but behold the mercy of my God continues still oh let me have the shame of an ingrateful sinner and thy name have the glory of thy inexpressible pitty even to those who are almost ashamed to ask pardon and let me to whom thou hast shewed such compassion have the honour to be an instance of thy goodness to all the world but have I such a father why then do I lye still with this load of guilt upon my soul and this heavy burden of sorrow upon my spirit what do I get by these vain complaints but waste my time and double my misery by sad reflections I can neither have help from my self nor any creature but from my Father alone to whom mercies are as proper as misery is to me and if I through fear or sorrow sit still here and starve I have not so much pity for my self as he would have for me if he saw me thus grieved for abusing his mercies wherefore I will arise and go though I think I shall scarce have the face to ask more I have spent the last so ill and I shall be ashamed to tell him how base I have been but as I was not ashamed when I did evil so I must have shame when I suffer the desert of it I will go bathed in tears blushing for shame accusing my self and only relying on the bowels of a Father will beg only so much mercy as will banish despair and quiet my mind and give me some little hope and revive my languishing faith and if I may have this I will be content though I be not entertained with assurance and certain expectations for the least favourable look is more then I have deserved yet I see the tender Father upon the first sight of the returning prodigal whom he had never sent for but was driven home by his own miseries yet he runs to meet him takes the words out of his mouth and receives him with all the demonstrations of love and the caresses of a deer affection and is my God less merciful who hath invited me so often and promised me so largely I have done ill to stay so long but I will go now high in my desires low in my expectations sorrowing for my offence and begging his mercy and I hope though I carry no merits of my own to his justice yet I carry misery enough to make his bowels of compassion yearn upon me and then I cannot perish Amen Thus we see the Church hath shewed her care of these poor contrite ones in selecting the most and choicest of these sentences for them who are the best though the least part of the people and though such are vile in their own eyes (t) Psal 15.4 Old Transl Chal. Par. Viles prae oculis suis yet they are dear to God and highly valued by all good people and tenderly indulged by the Church who wishes there were more of this blessed temper § 5. THe next sort of men who come to pray are involved in gross ignorance and such are inappreâ—ensive of their guilt and unacquainted with their danger who know not what to ask nor of whom nor why but these be instructed before they pray or otherwise they will neither confess aright nor amend at all
seculo dicet etiam Amen in seculo future R. Jehud Tanch alius ille facit ut redemptio nostra accelleretur enjoyned the saying it after every little prayer as a thing pleasing to God and profitable to men Comparing it to the setting our Name to an Epistle writ in anothers hand which then becomes ours when we sign it * Buxt Synag Jud. cap. 7. The same Doctors in their Talmud reprove three sorts of Amen 1. Pupillum when like children men speak it to that they understand not 2. Amen surreptitium when by carelesness they say it before the prayer be done 3. Amen fertile when by sleepiness and yawning they cut it in two parts by all which it appears they would have it pronounced zealously and reverently by all the people From the Jews our Lord took it and by placing it at the end of his own prayer (m) Matth. 6.13 declared he would have us Christians to subjoyn it to all ours and accordingly it appears the Apostles ordered it for the most ignorant who could only joyn with others that prayed for him was at the end to say Amen (n) 1 Cor. 14.16 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which we may rather believe they ordained in the Church because we find the Masters of Israel appointed those who could not pray for themselves nor read to go to the Synagogue (o) Buxt Syn. Jud. cap. 5. and hear what others then prayed and by saying Amen heartily to their prayers they made them as they taught become their own From the practice of the Apostles it is sufficiently proved to have descended into the constant use of the Church in all ages (p) Nos simul Amen dicimus Irenaeus Si pro ipsius Salvatoris pacto in consensit duorum quodcunque petierint fiet Quid igitur futurum ubi ex tot tantantisque populis in unum congregatis una vox respondeatur acclamantium Amen Athan. Ad similitudinem caelestis tenitrui Amen populus reboat Hieron so that all know the people in the Primitive times used in the conclusion of all publique prayers to answer with an Amen loud as a clap of thunder and I wish our times which pretend to so much zeal had never laid aside this holy custome which besides the prescription of Antiquity hath the records of Scripture to produce for its Observation I wish I might be a happy instrument to restore it Let us I beseech you reassume this most useful conclusion and all speak it heartily and aâ—dibly to testifie both to God and Men that we have all one Lord one Faith one Hope and one Mouth And as we pronounce it let us reflect on all the sentences of the foregoing prayer especially such as vain thoughts hindred us from attending and sum up all our desires in one devout Amen Lord let all and every one of these things be granted to us if you forbear to say Amen out of dislike to the Prayers do but study them and I am confident you will be reconciled to them if you omit Amen out of negligence pray consider how you can expect God should accept that Prayer which you never owned nor consented to we might as well be absent if we joyn not with the Minister And therefore that God may say Amen to all our prayers he grant us grace devoutly to say it to our own Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession O Most glorious and dreadful Lord God who art Almighty in thy power and of absolute Authority able to destroy us and yet ready to spare us and thereby hast shewed thy self a gracious and most merciful Father slow to anger and ready to receive us thy pitty encourageth us to make this humble Confession with shame and sorrow before thee that we thy poor Creatures have erred and daily gone aside out of thy right paths by mistakes frequent sudden and unobserved sins and strayed many times by voluntary deliberate and habitual transgressions whereby we have stayed longer and wandred further from thy ways of pleasantness and paths of peace where we might have been so safe and happy And hereby we are like lost sheep without our good Shepherd exposed to many secret subtile and powerful enemies being helpless and shiftless unable of our selves to resist them or fly from them and unlikely ever to return to thee unless thou come to seek and save us O Lord we now find to our sorrow that we have followed false gâ—ices with obstinacy heedlesness and delight and have been given too much to rely upon the devices and false principles of our corrupted understandings which mistake the greatest evil for the chiefest good and so we have been led headlong after our mistaken choice by the blind affections and desires of our own hearts which being set upon evilâ— have made us restless and impatient till we have done what we wickedly devised and obtained what we greedily desired And thus by forsaking thy conduct and pursuing all that a mistaken judgment could devise or a wicked heart desire we have daily in thought word and deed most grievously offended against thy holy laws which we could not be ignorant of nor are we able to give any Reason why we should disclaim thy Soveraignty or despise the direction of a Rule so excellent so just and good that we cannot except against it Who shall plead for us who have been fully instructed in our duty and yet we have through laziness forgetfulness or worldly-mindedness very often left undone those things which our Duty to God our Love to our Neighbours and the care of our own Bodies and Souls required (q) Here reflect upon what you read §. 6. and 14. calling to mind what you have omitted of your duty to God your selves or others all which our own Consciences tells us we ought to have done in the most sincere and cordial manner yet we have either omitted them or performed them with so much indifference and formality hypocrisie and distractions that they might almost as well have been left undone And by this Omission and slight observance of our duty thou hast been provoked to give us up to the deceits of Sathan so that we have besides these sins of Omission frequently done those things which have tended to thy dishonour our neighbours hurt and to the prejudice of our own bodies and souls (r) Here remember your sâ—ns of Commission as hath been said and call to mind your breaches of the 2d third sixth seventh eighth ninth and tenth Commandements the least of which we ought not to have done to have gained the whole world O thou Physician of Souls our heads are full of evil devices our hearts of base desires our lives are overspread with the loathsom sores of actual transgressions thou alone canst help us and being likely to perish we confess we are full of diseases and there is no health in us nothing but sad symptoms of death and damnation We have indeed wilfully brought
is the Christians highest aim it was Davids prayer (z) Psal 19.14 and the greatest blessing the Priest could wish (a) Numb 6.24 25 26. Psal 20.3 4. that Almighty God might accept them Poor Socrates after many a tedious step in a virtuous but afflicted state (b) An diis placent quae feci nescio hoc autem solum scio me sedulò haec egisse ut placerent could not tell whether he had given content to his Deities or no but whoever of you have the grace of Repentance and the holy spirit are not in those uncertainties but have Enochs Testimony Heb. 11.5 that you do please God § 12. And that the rest of our lives hereafter may be pure and holy this is the second benefit and motive earnestly to pray for these things for so you shall not only be welcomed at present with a gracious smile but all your lives long be reputed as the friends of God and by his help shall be preserved as pure as a true Repentance hath made you and as holy as those are who are under the Guard of the Spirit of holiness Pray therefore with all your soul for a true Repentance or else as soon as your soul is washed it will return to its impure wallowings and all your labour is in vain hitherto (c) 2 Pet. 2.22 laterem lavare for a feigned repentance will send Absolom away for a while but upon the next Enterview will hurry us with more passion into his embraces whereas the deep wounds of the true penitent make sin hateful to him while he lives and he that gets on a white garment with so much difficulty will not easily sully it but carefully preserve it pure as his tears have made it And upon the same ground be very pressing for the holy spirit Which if you can obtain you shall not only be preserved from the spots of sin but shall shine with the lustre of a holy life for our goodness is apt to vanish (d) Hos 6.4 we are wavering and soon weary unless we have that establishing spirit (e) Psal 51.14 David prays for and then all duties will be easie and we shall be strong for love and the sense of his assistance will carry us cheerfully through them all so as to be our pleasure not burden and when we are arrived to this nothing can bribe us to forsake them Oh happy soul that is thus begun to be restored to that purity and holiness which are part of Gods Image (f) Ephes 4.24 and parcels of the Divine Perfections blessed is he that is so far advanced that God is not like to forsake him because he hath made him holy pure and a fit temple for the inhabitation of his spirit nor is he likely ever to forsake that God whose mercy hath saved him whose grace doth refresh him whose waies please him and his glorious bounty which faith discovers doth still allure him to press forward to neerer unions and unseparable connexions no state under the Sun is to be longed and wished for like this which a true Repentance and Gods holy Spirit brings us to § 13. So that at the last we may come to his eternal joy through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen There is nothing more desirable then the sweet peace of a good Conscience but only that which is the end and perfection thereof and that is that happiness which is infinite and endless which the Scripture calls an eternal and everlasting joy (g) Isai 35.10 Chap. 61.7 51.11 which neither men nor devils can lessen or interrupt much less put a period to it And if God give us true Repentance it will preserve us from the sins which forfeit this and if he add his holy spirit it will safely lead us into those paths of righteousness which lead thither where we can desire no more because we have all that is desirable There are no cares to disturb no fears to allay nor sorrows to abate those ravishments of delight for ever there is joy which far surpasseth the half-sad and mixed pleasures which this world hath being nothing else but pure joy which pleaseth by its own excellence and by having no fears nor possibility of defailance in degree or continuance we tast something of it in the charming calm of a strong faith and a quiet conscience with undeceived expectations of Gods love but this is but the land-skip of our heavenly Canaan which Jesus hath purchased for us and God the Father will grant unto us and the most holy Spirit will be our guide thither (h) Psal 51.14 LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole glorious Trinity is concerned for us and will cooperate with us to put us into possession of them and then rejoyce over us to all eternity The Father who forgave us the Son who dyed for us and the Blessed Spirit who wrought effectually in us will Communicate this their joy with us and to us for ever And lastly to shew that you thankfully follow these Directions of the Ministers and have in your own heart and thoughts most devoutly petitioned God for a true Repentance and his holy Spirit by means whereof all these incomparable benefits may redound to you in testimony I say hereof you sum up all in a Petitionary Amen desiring it may be so and assenting also to the truth of all this It is most true and therefore oh so be it unto you Amen The Paraphrase of the Absolution BE it known to every one of you that hath confessed his sins with an humble lowly Penitent and obedient heart that Almighty God Supreme King of Heaven and Earth whose Royal Prerogative it is fully to acquit or finally to condemn being the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who assumed our nature and suffered for our sins this great God by his Merits is of an angry Judge become a tender Father and hath solemnly sworn he is one who desireth not neither taketh pleasure in the death or damnation of a sinner though never so justly deserving it but rather chuseth to have opportunity to shew mercy and therefore he useth all possible means that he may turn from his wickedness which will bring the sinner into condemnation that by leaving these paths of death he might be forgiven and live in holiness and comfort here and in everlasting glory hereafter And to confirm this his good will and keep penitent sinners from despair he hath given and in holy Scripture communicated Power by vertue of his Supreme Authority and Commandment for the exercise of this power for when poor sinners need comfort he hath given special charge to his Ministers lawfully chosen by himself and those he appoints to be his Ambassadors to declare at all times his willingness to pardon all and pronounce Absolution more particularly and plainly to those that by returning and obedience do own him even to his People being Penitent for all their offences as you now from your
man that although God is and ever shall be a glorious King (o) Psal 10.16 and Psal 29.10 in deluvium Deus sedit h. e. Perditis omnibus creaturis tamen regnum ejus manet R.R. whatever become of this lower world yet the devils hate him and wicked men rebel against him and their own corruptions will not fully submit to him and all this while the great King of Kings seems to connive at all seldome exercising his power to subdue or his justice to punish and destroy his enemies so that the whole world abounds with Impiety and Confusion and then what wonder if the Children of God who know their Fathers Power and goodness do earnestly desire he may more visibly reign amongst men for his glory and their own good in particular and the benefit of all the World for his Kingdome is Regimen Paternum and consequently our interest (p) Illi deputamus quod ab illo expectamus Tertul. and our happiness and therefore our Prayer for when our Heavenly Father doth thus exercise his Authority then his faithful servants shall be secured from their enemies supplied in all their needs and satisfied in all their desires Now the Kingdome of God or Heaven (q) Vide Supra Ch. p. 1. §. 6. signifies either his Kingdome of Grace or that of Glory His Kingdome of Grace we pray may come in a double sense 1. By an outward profession viz. That the Gospel may be embraced in all the world even there where now they are slaves to the Devil and their own lusts who are servants to the Prince of darkness (r) Ephes 2.2 doing his work observing his Laws and paying him Tribute by Sacrifices as their Leige Lord we pray that these poor Souls may be Converted believe and be Baptised renouncing their old Master and professing themselves Subjects of Jesus and of the great King of all the World 2. We pray his Kingdome of grace may come by a real subjection where his Soveraignity is owned because without this an outward possession is but like the mockery of the cruel Jews who saluted him hail King and then smote him on the face and so doth every professed Christian that lives wickedly Wherefore we pray That his Kingdome may be within us as well as among us (s) Luke 17.21 and whereas now his Laws are broken his Messengers despised his People abused and his Enemies cherished that by the power of his grace in all our hearts our unruly passions may be tamed our rebellious lusts mortified and our naughty desires extinguished till we all own his Authority fear his displeasure and obey his Edicts as we ought to do and if any be so obstinate as still to refuse him for their King (t) Luke 19.14 we pray that our Lord Jesus would exercise his royal power in punishing all such that others may see and fear (u) Psal 58. ult and every good man desires for himself this righteous Prince (x) Psal 45.6 may subdue every opposing thought in his heart (y) 2 Cor. 10.5 and may have the absolute command over all the members of his body and faculties of his soul and then he hopes his corruption will be restrained his graces quickened and all his inward man in much better order he knows if Christ rule in his heart he shall have more freedome comfort and peace then ever he had before Oh it were happy for the Christian world and every truly Christian soul if Our Fathers Kingdome were set up in all our hearts since we all own it with our mouths Lord let thy Kingdome of grace thus come Secondly the Children of God pray for his kingdome of glory viz. for that visible and glorious manifestation of the Kingdome of Jesus when he shall come to dispense his glorious rewards and finall Pardon to his faithful servants and admit them to be sharers in his joy and partners in his Kingdome and to pronounce the fearful doom upon his obstinate and miserable enemies to make them suffer the just deserts of their wilfull opposition and desperate Rebellion in unexpressible and eternal torments In which acts the glory of his kingdome the mightiness of his power the truth of his word the infiniteness of his love to his own and the exactness of his justice to his enemies shall be so clearly demonstrated to all the world that his faithful ones shall be rapt with joy and wonder and glorifie him for it to all eternity Here alass they serve there they shall reign here they are despised and afflicted vext with their own corruptions grieved for the sins of others poor and disconsolate full of cares and fears which when Christs Kingdome comes shall not only be done away but exchanged for endless glory and boundless felicity And who can blame them who are weary with slavery (z) Optamus maturiùs regnare non diutiùs servire Tert. de Or. Regnum Dei Volum Christianorum confusio nationum exultatio Angelorum idem ibid. to wish for liberty and long for that happy day which is the end of all their evils and the beginning of that incomparable joy that never shall have end Let ungodly persons fear and tremble at this dreadful day to them let their tongue falter when they wish for it and their own confusion the holy ones of God can joyn with their bretheren under the Altar in saying Come Lord Jesus come quickly the sooner he comes the sooner shall their souls be delivered and their desires satisfied in seeing and enjoying their Lord and deer Redeemer 'T is true when a good man considers how dreadful vengeance will then seize on sinners out of pitty to them that pitty not themselves they pray that these desperate sinners may first submit to his Kingdome of grace and are well pleased with the deferring of that day (a) 2 Pet. 3.9 Pro morâ finis Tert. ibid. and can pray with the Primitive Christians for the putting that time further off though it be to their own loss because so God will be more glorified and Heavens Quire fuller and the Musick sweeter the more are brought home therefore they pray that though the Kingdome of Glory be their happiness yet the Kingdome of Grace may first come into the hearts of all that will receive it § 5. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven As Gods Kingdome doth alwaies abide so his will is ever done and so it may seem superfluous to request it may be done because it is the Rule by which all Creatures act and they all do bring about (b) Psal 115.3 Rom. 9.19 his Will when they interd it and when they do not and God himself alwaies doth his own Will (c) Deo non posse nolle est posse ville Tertull. in Prax. which is the limit of his infinite power for he can do and doth what he will and thus we had sufficiently asked it before in thy Kingdome come because this is the
that we may seldome fall into temptation and never fall by it least Sathan who desires our eternal ruine again get power over us and advantage against us let us not be a prey to his malice but deliver us from evil which he inticeth us to as a Tempter and will punish us for as a Tormentor that we may not deliver our selves over to him by sin nor thou give us up to his wrath to execute thy sentence upon us for it These mercies we need and though we are unworthy yet we Petition thee for them thou mayest help us for thine is the Kingdome thou canst do it for thine is the Power thou wilt do it for us as thou hast freely and frequently relieved poor penitent sinners for which Men and Angels do acknowledge thine is the Praise and the Glory and we shall by thy mercy to us be obliged to joyn in this just acknowledgment which shall be made to thee in Heaven and Earth for ever and ever world without end Amen be it so SECTION VI. Of the Responses First of them in General § 1. AFter this devout address to God in that incomparable Prayer which Jesus taught are added some short and pithy Sentences in which the People are to bear a part according to the manner of the Primitive Christians (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constit Ap. l. 2. c. 5. who used this so constantly that Eusebius (x) Euseb Hist Eccl l. 2. c. 17. brings it as an Argument to prove the Essenes were Christians because they sung by turns answering one another They did so indeed among the Jews but those duties were performed by the Priests and Levites only But Christians have a greater Priviledge and every man is so far a Priest (y) 1 Pet. 2.9 Revel 1.6 as to have leave to joyn in this spiritual sacrifice and it is for the benefit as well as honour of the people For First This shews their full Consent and Unity in all that is Prayed for which Christ teacheth us to be necessary that our Prayers may be heard (z) Matth. 18.19 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor is their silence sufficient to express such a consent as is here required for they must not only be willing these things may be prayed for but they must desire God should look on it as every ones particular request and accordingly Minister and people must with one mouth as well as one mind (a) Rom. 15.6 praise God Secondly This quickens their Devotion by a grateful variety making those holy offices pleasant which our corrupt nature is so apt to think tedious and by a different manner of address making the time seem short (b) Breve videbitur tempus quod tantis operûm varietatibus occupatur Hieron Epist ad Laet. and the Devotions new so that we may be as fresh as in the beginning of our Prayers Thirdly This engageth their Attention which is apt to stray especially in Sacred things and most of all if the people bear no part But when they have also their share of Duty they must expect before it comes that they may be ready when it is come that they may be right they must observe and after take heed to prepare against the next Answer they are to give How Pious therefore and Prudent is this Oâ—der of the Church thus to intermix the Peoples duty that they may be alwaies exercised in it or preparing for it and never have leisure to entertain those vain thoughts which will set upon us especially in the house of God (c) Nihil agendo malè agere dâ—scimus Senec. if we have nothing to do And assuredly the general neglect of this Duty of answering in their course hath introduced so much laziness sleeping irreverence inadvertency and weariness into the house of God Our Pious Ancestors may make our Devotion blush when we see them all the time of Prayer in procinctu with their knees bended their hands lifted up their eyes fixed on the Minister and their hearts and mouths ready to say Amen and answer where ever it was required And if ever this Devotion be restored in the Church which all good men passionately with it must be by learning the people zealously and conscientiously to joyn in these pious Ejaculations allotted to them which that they may do I shall now explain them to every ones capacity § 2. O Lord open thou our lips And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise This sentence with many of those that follow are Endited by the Spirit of God taken out of that excellent repository of Devotion the Psalms of David from whence the Jews took the greatest part of their Liturgy and the Primitive Christians collected their Prayers (d) See Dr. Hammonds Preface to his Annotat. and composed their Hymns out of it because it contains variety of prayers and praises exactly fitted for all persons in all circumstances as pertinent as if they had been made for the present occasion and so we shall find this to be which we now consider The words are to be found in Psal LI. ver 15. and were antiently transcribed into the Christian Liturgies for they are ordered to be three times repeated in that antient one attributed to St. James not to mention them of later date And nothing can be more pertinent when Minister and people apply themselves to praise God for speech is the gift of God (e) Prov. 16.1 Exod. 4.11 and that in which man excells all other Creatures and was given us to this end that we might glorifie him whence the tongue is called our glory (f) Psal 16.9 gloria mea LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Psal 36.12 108.1 because it is the instrument of his praise But we here do not only acknowledge our speech was given us to this end but desiring now to make a right use of it we beg his help and confess from him we have the faculty and the exercise of that faculty in every Act especially in holy things wherein unless he open our lips we cannot set forth his praise This is the sense of the words considered absolutely and alone But the Observation whence they are taken oâ—t of the most famous Penitential Psalm and where they are set soon after the Confession will afford us another profitable exposition David useth them after the Confession of his grievous sin and earnest supplication for Pardon and we use them in the Close of the Penitential part before we begin our solemn praises and petitions intimating that till we have some hopes of our Pardon we cannot proceed any further and so we briefly but zealously press that great sute for mercy because sin and the guilt of it doth stop our mouths and shut our lips that we become tongue-tyed (g) Matth. 22.11 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speechless and mute as Judah the most eloquent of all his brethren (h) Gen. 44.16 Quid scribam vobis a t quomodo
name be praised The first part of this or the Versicle is no other then the English of Hallelujah which of old was accounted so sacred that the Church used it in its native language (f) Amen Hallelujah Quod nec Latino nec Barbaro licet in suam linguam transferre Ebraeo cunctas Gentes vocabulo decantare August in Pascen ep 178. and so doth St. John in the Revelation keep the word (g) Revelat. 19. ver 1 3 4 and 6. Hallelujah but our Church hath made it more intelligible to her Children by teaching it to them in their own language for in our tongue it is exactly rendred (h) Hesych 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est contractio Jehovae Theodoret in Psal 111. and 113. Praise ye the Lord. Now this Hallelujah was the name of a Hymn in frequent use (i) Tobit 13.18 among the Jews who used alâ—o after the Passover to sing six Psalms from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118 which hymn (k) Matth. 26.30 they called the great Hallelujah because in those Psalms this word is often repeated and perhaps to distinguish it from some lesser Hallelujah of daily use in the Temple service from the Jews St. John learned it and the Christian Church from both for it was ever annexed to and frequently repeated in all their Liturgies which was so well known that when Olympius the heathen Philosopher heard a Hallelujah sung early in the morning before any man came into the Temple of Serapis in Egypt he fled from the place gathering by this prognostick that the Heathen Temple should become a Christian Church (l) Sozom. Histor Trip. l. 9. c. 29. It was constantly sung in all Christian Assemblies though with some variety at Rome most solemnly at Easter in other places (m) Sozom. Hist Trip. l. 9. c. 39. all the 50 daies after till Whit-sunday which were daies of greatest joy among them But every where it was used on the Lords day (n) Vt autem Hallelujah per illos solos dies quinquaginta in Ecclesiâ cantetur non usquequaque observatur nam in aliis diebus variè cantatur alibi ipsis autem Dominicis diebus ubique August ep 120. vid. id Psal 106. item Ambros Apol pro Dav. Paul Diaconus l. 15. And thus we imitate the Forms used by Pious and Primitive Antiquity and if any ask why it is placed here I answer first as a return to the Gloria Patri in which having worshiped the Trinity we here adore the Unity worshiping and praising Three Persons and One God Secondly It may look further back to the Absolution for Hallelujah is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a triumphant song for victory over our enemies it was first made on that occasion saith a Jewish Doctor (o) â—entum tres Psalmos dixit David non dixit Schira conticum nonec vidisset ruinam improborum R.D.K. in Ps 104. and St. John (p) Revel 19.1 3 4 6. applies it to that song which the Saints sung for the overthrow of their enemies so doth old Tobit also with reverence to Israels restauration and as Moses Exod. 15. began his song of Victory so the Minister doth here and all the people eccho again in the same strain (q) Exod. 15. ver 1. cum 20. 21. when we behold our sins that ruled us with rigour and pursued us with guilt lye dead before our eyes then it is proper to sing a Hallelujah Thirdly It may look forward to the Reading of the Psalms and serve as a preface thereto (r) Hallelujah is the title to many Psalms see Dr. Ham. on Psal 106.1 and Psal 111.1 because Praise is the subject matter of most of them and the Jews call it the Book of Praises and being about to praise God with Psalms we do mutually encourage one another with this most excellent (s) Hallelujah inter omnes cantiones maximè excellit id R.D. Kimhi Canticle which some think is the song of Angels in heaven with whom we hope at last to bear a part SECTION VII Of the Psalms §. 1. Of the XCV Psalm and the Division of it THe Holy Spirit being the Enditer and David the Penman of this sacred Hymn the matter of it is unquestionable (t) Heb. 3.7 ch 4.7 and the placing it here to be used in the daily service doth further confirm what we may every where observe the prudent and pious care of the Church in her choice of this part of Scripture which is as fit a preparatory to all the succeeding offices as is to be found in all the holy word of God It contains both directions and exhortations to Praises Prayers and hearing Gods word which as was shewed before (u) Vid. Sect. II. §. 8. are the duties of our Church-Assemblies and its very composure shews it was designed for the publique service Grotius thinks for the Feast of Tabernacles (x) Calv. in Psal 95. Calvin and others for the Sabbath day (y) in Heb. 3.7 but St. Paul (z) in Heb. 3.15 whose authority we follow thinks it fit for every day and by his application of it we have sufficient ground to adopt it into the Christian worship having also the Testimony of the Jewish writers that it belongs to the times of the Messiah And 't is too evident the sluggishness of our hearts to all holy duties makes those powerful exhortations necessary to awaken us those strong arguments to convince us and those dreadful threatnings and examples to warn us which are contained in this Psalm as will appear by the following Scheme The Analysis of the XCV Psalm The XCV Psalm is an Exhortation 1. To Praise God and shews 1. The manner how ver I II. Externally by singing and shewing our selves glad Internally by hearty rejoycing thanksgiving 2. The reasons why ver III IV. and V. 1. His Essential greatness ver III. 2. His Superiority above all ver III. 3. His Dominion over all v. IV. 4. His Creation of all ver V. 2. To Pray to him and shews also 1. The manner how ver VI. Internally by worshiping ver VI. Externally by falling down and kneeling ver VI. 2. The Reasons why ver VII 1. It is his due as our Lord God ver VII 2. It is our Duty Interest as his sheep ver VII 3. To hear and obey his word containing 1. A courteous invitation ver VIII first part expressing 1. The time when we must do it to day first part ver VIII 2. The manner how we should do it freely if we will first part ver VIII 2. A necessary caution declaring part ver VIII IX X XI 1. Of what we must beware hardness of heart the 2d part v. VIII 2. Why we must beware by example 1. Of the sin of the Jews ver IX 2. Of their punishment 1. Gods displeasure ver X. 2 Their own ruine ver XI § 2. Ver. I and II. O come let us sing c
It hath ever been and still is the custome for Souldiers when they were about to joyn in battle (a) 1 Sam. 17.20 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Grot. in Josh 6.5 to encourage one onother with a general shout to which we may compare this joyful Acclamation of the Church Militant we being now about to besiege heaven with our Prayers and to assail the gates of hell by holy resolution every Man shews his Own forwardnesâ— and reproves his Neighbours backwardness with O come let us c. which word signifies that zealous speed we are to make that we may set upon these holy offices and this we are commanded to do by the Apostle whenever we use to meet in the house of God (b) Heb. 10.25 especially in Psalms and Spiritual Hymns (c) Ephes 5.19 Coloss 3.15 then we must admonish and encourage one another as the Minister and People do most pathetically in this Psalm stirring up each others hearts in these two first verses to praise God the same thing after the Poetick manner being expressed in divers words from which it appears this Psalm was sitted for the two sides of the Quire and so we still use it The Priest beginning the Exhortation O come let us sing c. and the people answering Let uâ— come c. thereby approving the advice and returning the courteous invitation and both minister and people do mutually pâ—ess the duty and express their joynt resolutions to glorifie God In private it may suffice that our heart and spirit rejoyce in God (d) Luke 1.46 47. but we are now in publique and therefore as God hath bestowed his favours (e) 1 Cor. 6. â—0 on both soul and body we must both in heart and voice glorifie him by both We must sing his Praises and thereâ—y shew even to men who cannot see the heart th â— we are glad and joyâ—â—l in remembring his goodness We mâ—st 〈◊〉 stand mute but our tongues must affect our hearts and the hearts of all about us that every mans light may shine clearly and our neighbours torch may be kindled at our fire till the several sparks of gratitude that lye hid in single hearts be blown up and united into one flame bright as the blaze of the Altar and till we be all turned into holy joy and love which will be the effect of the zealous performing the outward part But we must also be sure to let our heart make a Unison with our tongue (f) Ephes 5.19 c. Rom. 15.6 or else the grunting of swine is not more harsh and unpleasant to our ears then the best harmony of their voices in Gods who only dwell on the sounds and never observe the sense nor excite devout affections as a caution against such formality there are four good considerations proposed in these two Verses First The Person to whom these Praises are addressed unto the Lord who sees our hearts and cannot as men be deceived with Verbal complements Secondly The reason why we praise him because he is the strength of our Salvation a Rock of Defence (g) See Dr. Hammond Annot. on Psal 89. ver 26. l Syr. potentissimus meus liberator LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to us and a mighty Champion for us and powerful rescuer of us on whose power and mercy relies the strength of all our hopes for this world and the next Thirdly The place where we praise him we are before his presence in those Assemblies where he peculiarly manifests himself The Jews were before the Ark but St. Paul teacheth us that we come into the Holiest of all for we Christians are admitted into the Presence-Chamber and if we mock him we do it to his very face Fourthly The manner in which he expects to be praised even that we be glad in him and rejoyce in the Lord not with the mirth of a Theatre loose and voluptuous but with the joys of Cherubins and all those celestial Orders whose joy is kindled from the pure beams of the Divine love These things as seriously thought on as they are frequently repeated would spiritualize our joy and help us both in heart and voice to glorifie the fountain of all good § 3. Ver. III IV and V. For the Lord is a great God c. 'T is impossible we should do any action chearfully till we are informed of the reason why it must be done and when the understanding is convinced fully the Will chuseth freely and then all the faculties of the Soul and members of the Body lend their help readily to put it in execution For which cause these three Verses contain the Reasons and Motives to that duty of praising God in heart and voice to which the former Verses exhort us For as the Subjects of great Princes do celebrate their masters praises with Panegyricks and with loud hyperbole's set forth the greatness of their Power multitude of their Vassals largeness of their Dominions and the excellency of their atcheivements so we being before the King of Kings and our particular benefactor are more firmly obliged to glorifie him and can more justly commend him upon all these accounts then the Favourites of the greatest Monarch upon Earth who are forc't to magnifie small matters and add many to fill up their Lords character but we need only relate the truth even that our God is infinite and immense in himself absolute and supream in his Authority universal and unlimited in his Dominions glorious and admirable in his Works all which will quicken our Praises if we consider them severally as they are laid down in order in these Verses 1. The Lord is a great God Let us view his Essential greatness and Immensity which places him without the bounds of our apprehension but he is so much the more to be esteemed (h) Hoc est quod Deum aestimari facit dum aestimari non capit Tert. Apol. Nec videri potes visu clarior nec comprehendi tactu purior nec aestimari sensu major est idâ—ò sic eum dignè aestimamus dum inestimabilem diximus Cyprian because he cannot be comprehended our senses cannot represent him nor can those thoughts that can measure out heaven and earth contain him who is not so properly said to be in the world as the world in him for he is every where (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo. but is confined no where and though to pursue this contemplation would amaze our understandings rather then help our Devotion yet it will teach us humility and to supply with admiration what we cannot conceive clearly nor explicate fully and it will engage us to extol him as much as is possible that our praises may hear some proportion with his greatness Yet let us believe that whatever we say or think of him here is so far short of what he really is that when we are admitted to the Beatifick Vision we shall confess with that Queen that the
one half was never told us (k) 1 Kings 10.6 7 8. 2. And a great King above all Gods Let us take notice of his Supremacy over all not only Men but Gods for though there be no other God but he alone yet there are many to whom that name is given (l) 1 Cor. 8.5 Idolaters give it to deceased Heroes and Devils of which Eusebius out of Hesiod reckons 30000 and St. Augustine advances the sum to 300000 every one of which was honoured with magnificent Temples sumptuous Altars costly and pompous Rites and Sacrifices curious Images and rich Statues they were attended with millions of Priests maintained at the publique charge inriched with large Donatives advanced to the highest dignities and all this done by Kings and Emperors Senators and Philosophers The Greatest Richest and Wisest in the World in honour of a Creature nay a Devil which are but the slaves to our great and glorious God and if such honours are payed them what doth he that is both their and our Master deserve from us Oh ye Christians when ye go about to praise the true God behold the smoaking Altars and bleeding Sacrifices the triumphant processions and solemn addresses which are paid so freely by the slaves of Gods Vassals and be ashamed of your rude and cheap worshipings attend the pleasing harmony of rarest voices and sweetest instruments which wait upon the hymns of those that tremble at the name of your Lord and blush to offer up either flat or feigned gratulations as you have the greatest God so he deserves the noblest adorations Again Angels are called Gods (m) Psal 8.6 and Psal 97.7 compared with Heb. 1.6 and it may be applied to them they are so glorious that those holy men to whom they have appeared could scarce refrain from giving them Divine Adoration they are truly admirable for the brightness of their presence the swiftness of their motion clearness of their knowledge and greatness of their power Yet these are but the officers of his Courts and Executors of his Will who pay him their duty with loud praises vailed faces and submiss prostrations Now if the Attendants be bright as the Sun quick as Lightning and powerful as Thunder what is he that is their Lord what Songs of Eucharist doth he deserve Lastly the Governors of this World are also called by the name of Gods but they are his Creatures and they have no power but from him (n) Exod. 21.6 Psal 82.1 and 1â—8 1 no honour but as they administer his Rights and represent his Person and can you see their large â—etinues and solemn observances or hear the strained praises which their flattering Parasites cast upon them who are your Lords servants and Tributaries and will you give less to the King of Kings the Lord of Men and Devils Angels and the highest of the Rulers of this earth 3. In his hand are all the corners of the earth and the strength of the hills is his also Let us take a prospect of the Vastness and Immensity of his Empire which hath no other limits then those of the Universe for both Sea and Land are in his hand that is in his power and under his command and at his disposal so are the most hidden and secret corners (o) Abstrusissima terrae Vatab. of the earth into which mans eye cannot search and also the inaccessible tops of the loftiest mountains (p) Lassitudines Montiâ—m Heb. to climb which would tire the strongest and are seldome reckoned among the Dominions of earthly Kings being either fortified by Robbers and so impregnable or deserted by the husbandman and so unserviceable Yet the darkest Caverns and highest rocks and mountains which own no other Lord even they are his his eyes discern the one and his power can reach the other His dominion reacheth to the corners or uttermost parts of the Earth as some here read (q) LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vulg. fines Psal 139.7 so far as no Princes Armies could penetrate nor perhaps people inhabite yet these parts of the World are his and those vast mountains whose Immoveableness is the emblem of his unshaken and eternal principality are as so many natural bulwarks for the defence of his Kingdome which takes in the inhabitants of Heaven the armies of the Abyss and is large as the World strong as the most inassailable mountains This King of Kings and Lord of the Universe may challenge the most hearty and humble praises from his servants which we might further from their Allegorical Exposition of these words who apply them to the several conditions of men (r) Psal 72.3 and 148.9 for although he be so great the meanest and poorest are not below his notice and though he condescend so far yet the very richest and greatest terrible as the hills of the Robbers are not above his power but he rules and orders all so that nothing happens to Kings or slaves but by his permission and therefore he may expect Glory from all sorts of men 4. The Sea is his and he made it and his hands prepared the dry Land Let us consider the greatness of his works and we shall see the Arch of Heaven the Pillars of the Earth and the Fountains of the great deep were contrived by his wisdome and finished by his power so that without boasting he may say of this goodly Fabrick as the vain Assyrian did of his Royal City (s) Dan. 4.30 and none can contradict him The words Sea and Land are the two constituent parts and put for the whole and these are his by right of Creation which sure is the justest Title But therefore is the making of the Sea and adorning the dry land here mentioned because there is a special mark of his Wisdome and Providence in making that separation observed by the very Heathens (t) See Grotius de Verit. Relig. Christianae lib. 1. cap. 7. For he hath bound that unfixed Element in a girdle of sand which it cannot break and not only restrained it from overflowing us but made it serve our necessities and lend its help for the entercourse and mutual supplies of the most distant Nations And by these two words of Sea and Land we musâ— understand all the furniture of both which yield us such variety of provisions all these are Gods Creatures but by him freely assigned to our use desiring no other Tribute from us but to pay those Praises to our bountiful Lord and noble Benefactor which none of the dumb creatures can do and if he have also given us tongues we shall be most ingrateful if we glorifie him not with them Thus we have lead you in these Meditations to discover the glories of Gods Kingdome as Philo tells of his Prophet who upon a sight of the whole was asked before the Creation of Man if there wanted any thing to compleat so brave a work he answered there needed nothing but one to explain that goodly Work and glorifie
the maker of it And then saith Philo was man created and brought into this stately Theater to do those offices pitty is it you have eyes to see ears to hear mouths to tast and souls to judge and apprehend if you have not hearts and tongues to sing the Encomiums of this Great King who hath made all things so wonderfully and given them to you so freely You are pirates and robbers if you seize the provisions of Sea or Land and do not heartily give thanks to the Lord of them Let the serioâ—s apprehension of all this tune your hearts and voices to sing praises in the highest to so great a God so high a Lord of so vast perfections and endless Dominions of so infinite power and such noble bounty that we ow our selves and all we have to him § 4. Ver. VI and VII O come let us worship c. The people of the East exceeded all others in their expressions of reverence to their Kings and in Persia (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Artaban it was established by law that they should adore their Prince as the Visible Image of God so that as Curtius notes Darius received divine honour from his subjects But we are now before the King of Kings whose Empire is universal and his Dominions boundless and therefore we may well advise one another to use the most lowly gestures that may express our holy fear of and awfull regard to so great a Majesty Prostration of the body the greatest sign of honour among those Nations is now out of use but kneeling is still used in all addresses to mortal Princes and that is now among us an expression of the greatest civil respect from inferiors wherefore let us not repine if we be commanded to kneel before our great God the Lord of Heaven and Earth since it was a custome used by the Jews and Christ himself recommended it by Scripture (x) Genuflexio in oratione tam ex divinâ quam humanâ traditione provenit Calvin Inst l. 4. and great examples of its early observance in the Christian Church (y) Vid. Euseb l. 5. c. 5. An. Christi 170. Genua flectimus orantes Origen in Numb and the unanimous consent of all pious men But he that shall behold the abominable irreverence and saucy behaviour now used in our Devotions will think it no more then needs for us severely to reprove the people for it as the Antient Fathers who had not so much cause use to do (z) Diacono clamante flectamus genua maximam partem populi velut columnas erectas stare conspicio quod Christianis dum in Ecclesiâ oratur nec licet nec expediâ— Caesarius Arelat Hom. 30. vid. item Hieron in Ephes cap. 5. and both by our words and examples daily to say to them O come let us kneel c. not to Idols or Images the works of your hands as Heathens and some that are called Christians do bâ—t to the Lord your Maker who made both your Soul and Body and expects reverence from both especially in publique where you are by outward reverence to give testimony of your inward fear of his holy name and as Christ saith he that hath ears so I say he that hath knees to kneel let him kneel to him that is the glorious Maker of the whole Body the whole Man nay of the whole World But we may observe that though all these words are used to express outward reverence yet Worship is a general word and signifies all parts of Gods service and especially prayer (a) John 4.24 Acts 8.27 so that to Worship may here signifie to Pray and as before we encouraged one another to praise God so now having represented the Omnipotency and All-sufficiency of God we invite one another to pray to this great God and mighty King who made all Creatures and disposeth of all things and can relieve us whatever our wants be we need not fear to ask what he cannot do or to be sent back for want of power to help as great Kings sometimes do with their Petitioners (b) 2 Kings 6.27 Have we such a God and shall we be slow to worship him or careless and unmannerly when we make our applications to him no sure if we love our selves we shall make haste to come and be reverent when we are before him If we want any thing and do not pray to him for it he may justly suppose we question his Power or Sufficiency and and take it very ill but if we pray to him with humility he never accounts it boldness but accepts it as an acknowledgment that we believe his Authority and Supremacy and declare our dependance upon him who is our maker and therefore will be our preserver for no man makes a curious piece and then suffers it to decay by minding it no further much less will God despise the work of his own hands when he can so easily preserve us This is the first motive to our putting up Petitions to this great God because he is our Maker but on this ground all the Heathen world is as much obliged and hath as good cause of hopes as we because he hath created them as well as Christians But in the seventh verse we are taught an especial obligation lies upon us besides what concerns all mankind because he is Our God and we are his people the Jews were once so but now they are rejected for unbelief and we adopted into his family (c) Ephes 2.19 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and admitted neerer to God then ever they were so that he may justly expect we should worship him and pray to him for every Nation doth that to their God though a feigned Deity (d) Micah 4.5 But he is the Lord whom we adore and therefore able he is our God and consequently willing to grant our Requests There is a mutual Covenant between him and us he will defend us with an especial providence and we must serve him with an extraordinary Devotion Oh blessed are we who have this Almighty and most glorious Lord and Ruler of all the World for our God! Why do we look disconsolate or complain of our wants to them that either will not pitty us or cannot help us go ye to the Lord and complain to your God for his is all that power and glory you heard of before We did not choose him but he chose us to be his Flock (e) Psal 23.1 John 15.16 he feeds us and folds us we eat in his pasture and are defended by his hand for our being under his hand (f) Gen. 39.8 John 13.15 and Deut. 38.3 Num. 33.1 denotes his care of us and undertaking to lead us and keep us and whereas we are called his sheep or flock that is his subjects for a shepheard is put for a King (g) Zach. 11.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see both offices joyned in two words Psal 78.72 73. in Scripture and sheep for Subjects
immediately before his presence who sees our thoughts having our hearts filled with thanksgiving and gratitude for all his favours And the more to set forth his love and quicken our bretheren let us openly reioyce and shew our selves glad in him not with any vain songs but with Psalms which are indited by his Spirit and appointed by the Church as Forms of our daily Praises Ver. III. And we have great reason to glorifie him with heart and voice for the Lord Jehovah is not like any other that is falsly worshiped for he is a great God infinite and incomprehensible in his Essence supream and absolute in his Dominion and a great King who commands over Angels of Heaven Devils of Hell and the greatest earthly Monarchs being far above all that are supposed or called Gods and therefore deserves a nobler worship then Heathens give to their feigned Deities and guardian Angels or flattering Courtiers to their Royal Masters Ver. IV. He is not limited in his Power and Providence to one City or confined to a single Province but in his hands and Power under his Rule and Government are all the remotest and most secret corners of the earth no place is too far for him to reach too deep for him to discover or too high and strong for him to subdue for the heigth and the strength of the hills which are inaccessible to men these are his also and serve for the bulwarks of his Kingdome Ver. V. He is Lord of all the world and commandeth over that unruly Abyss of Waters the Sea which he binds in fetters of sand that it should not harm us but serve our needs for he hath given us power over it because it is his by an unquestionable Title for he created and he made it and therefore ought to give laws to it and to dispose of it and all the earth because he took away the covering of Waters from the ground and his hands made Herbs and Fruits Birds and Beasts and so furnished and prepared the dry land to be a habitation for the Sons of Men. Ver. VI. O come then since we have so gracious and All-sufficient a God let us not only praise him for what we have but also pray unto him and worship him in spirit and truth petitioning him for the relief of all our necessities with all possible zeal and sincerity in our heaâ—ts and with all lowliness and reverence in our postures let us bow and fall down on our faces and kneel to so glorious a King behaving our selves decently and humbly before the Lord who is able to do all things and being our maker will not suffer us the work of his own hands to perish Ver. VII But besides his Creating of us upon which ground others have hope to be heard as well as we our peculiar interest in him may encourage us to pray to him for he is the Lord whom we believe in and who calleth himself our God and although he made all men yet he hath especially made himself known to us and we are the people whom he feeds with his Word and Sacraments and whom he hath chosen to be the flock of his pasture that he himself may watch over us day and night to secure us from sin and Sathan because we are his especial subjects and the sheep that shall ever be preserved by the care of his eye and the power of his hand if we come at his call and hearken to his voice Ver. VIII O ye peculiar people of God observe how when his Word is read or preached to you his Ministers nay his Spirit doth every day invite you to Repentance saying to day after you have lost so many and have so few remaining while this is in your power it will be well for you if ye will hear and obey his voice and that he may not call in vain take heed you wilfully harden not your hearts by delighting in the pleasures of sin and doubting of the promises or slighting the threatnings of God for the event will be as sad as in the provocation of the Divine Anger by the unbelieving Israelites at Meribah and in the day of their presumptuous temptation of Gods patience at Massah in the wilderness of Sin after they came out of Egypt Ver. IX This example God set before the Posterity of those obstinate Jews saying to them as now he doth to us remember the time when your fathers whom you glory in disobeyed my commands and questioned my Providence and durst not trust my promises but tempted me by requiring miracles from me to satisfie their lusts and by this they supposed to have proved me and made trial of my power and love although there was evidences enough of both in their miraculoâ—s deliverance wherein they found my kindness and saw my works which were so wonderful they would have convinced any but such stubborn wretches Ver. X. For all this I forbore them as I have done you who serve me as they did yet fourty years long I spared them from utter destruction and still they were as rebellious as at first so that all that time was I grieved with the perverseness of this Generation At last when nothing would amend them I declared my utter detestation of them and said of those whom I had once chosen it is a people whom nothing can reclaim a refractory crew that do err in the thoughts of their hearts concerning me imagining me faithless and false or weak and impotent and no wonder for they have not known nor never would observe my waies to destroy presumptuous sinners but to give grace and glory to holy and humble men which put their trust in me Ver. XI Wherefore I warn you all to take heed least you refuse to hear my voice and neglect to repent to day for so you will provoke me to deal with you as I did with them unto whom I sware and stedfastly resolved in my wrath being justly incensed at their baseness that they should all perish in the wilderness and for all their confidence one of them should not enter into the blessed land of promise nor partake of my rest nor did they for I cut them off from the possession of Caanan for disobedience and unbelief and I will keep all such out of the heavenly Jerusalem loe I have said it that you may be warned and turn in time Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the Beginning c. §. VII Of the daily use of the Psalms in the Morning and Evening Prayer THE Book of Psalms seems to be a Collection of thosâ— devout hymns wherewith holy men did praise God upon publique or private occasions and are fitted to all Conditions of the Church in general and of particular persons and are Divine forms of Prayer and Praise indited by the Spirit of God with such admirable variety that we may easily Collect a Form from thence either to Petition for any thing we need or to glorifie the
Apostles are raviâ—hed with his glory whom they saw in his weaknâ—ss The Prophets are delighted with him whom they prophesied of but never beheld before The Martyrs are transpoâ—ted with his love and forgetting all their torments solace themselves in his joyes and every gaping wound (d) Quot vulnera hiantia tot ora laudantia Deum is a mouth to chant out his Praise Oh what honour is it to serve such a Lord what delight to be admitted to so glorious a society Summon up all the powers and fâ—culties of your souls and as they fill Heaven do yoâ— fill the Earth with setting out the Majesty of his Glory § 3. The second part of this Hymn in the eleven following versicles is a Confession of Faith And eveâ—y Aâ—ticle thereof is a fâ—rther motive to praise God eitâ—er foâ— the gâ—ory of his Essence or the mercy that appears in his works And since we see God at present only by Faith the Profession of that Faith is to us reputed a glorifying of him (e) Rom. 15.6 The Saints and Angels have a fâ—ll view and what they â—o by Joy we do by Faith and holy desires of a nearer union Aâ—d certainly we cannot set out the Majesty of his Glory better then by assenting to that Revelation which his Truth hath made of himself and by confessing him that the glorious Hosts of Heaven adore and the Universal Châ—â—ch doth and ever did acknowledge For so we agree in a sweet harmony with the Saints and Angels in heaven and with all holy men our Bretheren on the earth For the unanimous consent of the Servants is a manifestation of the Masters honour And it is an evidence that our Lord is really such and so glorious as we believe him to be since all unite in the profession of it Aâ—d this holds good most evidâ—ntly in the great mistery of the Trinity which the Celestial Quire owns by their Trisagium Holy Hâ—ly Holy And the Catholick Church hath most unanimously acknowledged most sacredly kept and most courageously defended above all other Articles so that all those agree in this who differ in many other points Let us then chearfully acknowledge the infinite Majesty of the Father who governs all Creatures and declare the honour of his true and only Son whose Glory is great in our salvation Let us confess the Divinity of that holy Spirit who is our Advocate in Heaven and our Comforter (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 u rumque signif Johan 14.16 1 Ep. Johan 2. ver 1. upon the Earth Above all let us be carefull that the humiliation of our mercifull Redeemer do not abate of our esteem To prevent which the Church in this Hymn as also in all her Creeds makes the largest and most particular Confession of the Son of God and we have here a full account of Divinity and Humanity because by the malice of Sathan these have been so confounded and mistaken by so many Heresies and we have also a recital of those works of his which most concern us because it is the interest of us all to know and believe these which more directly tend to our salvation then any other of the works of God and therefore do more strongly engage our gratitude for we shall find abundaâ—t matter of Praise both in what Jesus is in his nature and what he hath done for us He is very God and therefore we give â—im that title which alone belongs to the Lord of hosts and St. Ambrose the best interpreter of this Hymn saith (g) Psal 24 7. 10. Quis est iste Rex gloriae Respondetur à scientibus Dominus virtutùm ipse est Rex gloriae Ergo Dominus virtutùm est ipse filius Ambros de Fide lib. 4. that twenty fourth Psalm was sung by the Angels at our Saviours Resurrection those who came with him calling to those in Heaven to open the gates for the King of Glory who answered them as it is in that Psalm And we may call him the King of Glory both as he is very God and because he hath purchased Glory for us and shall distribute it to us and shall receive glory and praise from us and all that are partakers of it And his glory depends not on our praises but is inseparable from his nature because he is the true and only begotten Son of God not Created as the Angels nor Adopted as Men but by Eternal Generation Coeternal with the Father and Coequal What though he was born in time the Son of Man this doth not take away his Being the Son of God nor change his nature but express his love and engage our affections Dear Jesus whether hath thy love carried thee from Glory to misery from the highest Throne in Heaven to the lower parts of the Earth (h) Ephes 4.9 Pudorem exordii nostri non recusaâ—iâ— sed contumelias naturae nostrae transcurrit Hilar How hast thou pursued â—s through all the stages of our infelicity from the dishonours of the Womb to those of the Tombe not abhorring the meanest place that was pure nor the lowest condition that Innocence could be put into What cause have we to bless thee (i) Ideo quod homo est Christus esse voluit ut homo possit esse quod Christus est who wert pleased to become what we were that we might be not what we deserved but as thou art Holy Saviour we believe and rejoyce in believing that thou wast born like us livedst with us and diedst for us and that death was our life it was shameful and inglorious sharp and tormenting so terrible as might startle a great confidence in a good cause But it was not more bitter to thee then sweet to us We even we Oh Lord had armed Death with a sting sharp and venomous for our sin had provoked the Divine wrath And this sting though with the suffering (k) 1 Cor. 15.57 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devicto mortis aâ—uleo Ambr. of inexpressible dolours thou hast pulled out and having satisfied the Justice of God canst now triumph over death it self and enable us with comfort to say O Death where is thy sting with which thou didst threaten all the World with unavoidable destruction Who can behold what thou hast suffered and we have escaped and not be ravished with thy Love Oh blessed Lord Jesus The way to Heaven was ever open to Innocence but we all had sinned and come short of the glory of God Heaven gates were shut against us and Hells mouth open to receive us And in this estate our life had been worse then death by the dreadful expectations of deserved vengeance and our death had certainly delivered us up to feel what we feared Do we live with any comfort 'T is thou hast removed our fears Can we dye with any peace It is thou alone hast renewed our hopes if any men that are or ever were or shall be are admitted into this Kingdome
advantage which occasions that joy wherefore we are most of all obliged to rejoyce with the blessed Virgin both as she was the Mother of our Redeemer according to the flesh and because we may be so according to the spirit the Lesson we now heard is out of the Old Testament and as there we find the Records and Examples of the Divine Mercy to the Pious and humble and of his Vengeance upon the Proud and arrogant so here we find a Form of Praise for those dispensations of Gods Providence and since all the deliverances of Gods people there related are founded on this mercy of our Redemption or flow from it or are directed to it this Hymn will teach us to turn the Old Testament into Gospel and with the holy Patriarchs (l) Gen. 49.18 Non expecto redemptionem Sampsonis quae est salus transitoria sed expecto redemptionem Messiae filii David Targ. ever to apply all to this great salvation of which all other mercies were but types Behold then the Mother of Jesus saying to you Oh praise the Lord with me (m) Psal 34.4 and let us magnifie his name together let us shew forth the greatness of his power and goodness for we cannot set out his Perfections with any advantage nor represent him greater then really he is as we often magnifie one another but then we magnifie the Lord when we declare what we apprehend him to be and let us advance his glory as high as is possible for there is no danger of exceeding our Praises will be short but they must be real wherefore before we can bear a part in this Anthem we must get our souls affected with a sense of his infinite Power and our minds exalted with the belief of his excellent mercy so our praise shall be no complement but our soul and spirit shall bear their part and our thanksgiving may be real as his favours are let his wonderful love present it self to your affections and bring out your wonder and joy your hopes and desires to behold the sweetness till these passions begin to be enamoured on it and moved by it and then they will carry a lovely notion and fair Idea of it to the mind and so effectually recommend it that the whole inward man shall be ravished with the beautiful prospect and every faculty of the soul and part of the affections shall unite into a devout celebration of the divine love and mercy Behold the holiest of Women observe where she fixes her eye and whether she directs her Praises she rejoyceth not in her own excellencies nor doth she magnifie her self but God her Saviour which may check our vanity who are so apt in a prosperous success and unexpected exaltation to sacrifice to our own deserts (n) Hoc ego feci non fortuna dict Timoth. ducis to crown our selves though we snatch it from the head of Heavens King but sure since he gives the blessing he deserves the honour (o) Tuum Domine est bonum tua itaque est gloria Qui enim de bono tuo gloriam sibi quaerit non tibi fur est latro similisque diabolo qui voluit furare gloriam tuam August Soliloqu c. 15. and he that paies it not is a double thief and steals the gift and the glory also for both are his She that was the Mother of Jesus after the flesh thinks it no disparagement to confess her Son to be her Saviour but rejoyceth that he was so let not us then think we are saved from temporal evils or can be from eternal death without him and let us esteem it a greater honour to us and a surer ground of our rejoycing that the most high God is become our Salvation then if we had our strength in our own hands § 2. There is nothing gives the dimensions of Gods love to us more truly then the sight and sense of our vileness when we behold our selves so low and despicable as indeed we are then the glories of the Divine Majesty in stooping to us and looking on us in our low estate will shine in their native lustre when we see how worthless we are and what favour we have obtained beyond our expectations as much as our deserts then our souls will magnifie the Lord in the apprehensions of his greatness and our spirits rejoyce in the admirable goodness of God our Saviour Thus the blessed Virgin was inspired with these Seraphical extasies of joy by looking on the mean Condition in which this infinite mercy surprised her she was not arrived to the honour of marriage and in the opinion of the daughters of Jerusalem who esteemed it a huge reproach and a great affliction (p) 1 Sam. 1.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX pro sterilitate ut Gen. 29.32 to be without Children her estate was disgraceful and her fortunes were really dishonourable for though she sprung from the blood Royal of Judah yet she was then a poor obscure maid unknown to the world but regarded by him that loves to lodge in the lowest hearts (q) Isai 57.15 of the poor and pious as well as in the highest heavens she was in her lowest estate the Lords hand-maid and devoutly served him day and night and her Piety sanctified her Poverty and drew the eye of God to regard her as he will the meanest of us if our obedience equal hers and especially if our minds be as low as our estate is for so was this excellent Virgins who by lowliness here means not her humility for it had argued Pride to have so high a conceit of her lowliness of mind as to believe it obliged Gods favour there it was her meanness and poverty (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abjectionem humilem conditionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verò humilitatem significare asserit Erasmus which she so freely confesseth and heartily praiseth God for regarding No doubt her humility was eminent in her afflicted condition for when she was advanced to be the Mother of the Worlds Saviour she seeks no greater honour then to be stiled the hand-maid of the Lord ver 38. Oh Blessed Soul that was ever the same neither dejected in her affliction nor puffed up with her exaltation but serves God chearfully in the one and praises him heartily for the other She beholds an infinite and lasting honour prepared for her not alone among the daughters of one place or Generation (s) Gen. 30.13 Syr. pro gloriâ med for she was to be the Mother of a Universal and Everlasting blessing which all former ages had desired and all future times should rejoyce in and Both would proclaim her happy above all Women who should be the Instrument of this Mercy And yet she resigns all this glory to him that gave it her and declares whence she received it (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophilac in loc that not her name but his may have the glory and sure she deserves
the more esteem because she returned the honour to God Wherefore they are most wretched who disrespect her whom God hath chosen and out of pretended hatred to superstition will scarce allow her the reverence of an excellent person (u) Aequale est enim in utrisque his sectis dâ—trimentum quum illi quidem vili pendant Sanctam Virginem hic vero rurâ—us ulerà decorum glorificent Epiph. tom 2. haer 79. and yet no doubt she would detest those Ave's and gratulations which some superstitious Votaries to the dishonour of him whom she praised bestow upon her because she calls her Son her Saviour and her self the handmaid of the Lord so that it is our duty to Reverence but not Adore her for she will assure you it was Gods infinite power for which he is deservedly called the most Mighty (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nomen Dei â—sal 24.8 which wrought this miracle (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 res miras magnas Deut. 10. ver 21. Psal 26.2 Actâ— 2.11 of Jesus his incarnation which was the cause of her honour he magnified her and therefore she magnifies him and teacheth us to hallow his Name for it is holy and reverend (z) Psal 111.9 in it self and deserves to be so esteemed for ever and ever § 3. Now that all may joyn with her in the Praises of the most holy she passeth from the consideration of her personal Priviledges to the Universal goodness of God in the constaâ—t dispensations of his Providence that we may see his Mercy was not confined to that time nor limited to one Person for as she had now experienced the bounty and kindness of him that she had served so all Gods faithful servants that ever were and all that ever shall be are assured to find the like Wherefore when our particular mercies occasion our joy let us not confine our gratitude to our private concerns but delight to hear out of Gods word those numerous instances of the rewards of holiness and the blessings of true Piety in all times that so we may have nobler sentiments of the Divine goodness by viewing the extent and duration of it and that we may be the more encouraged to go on in that course which will so certainly be our advantage let the Mother of Jesus and all holy men you read of in Sacred Writ recommend the fear of God to us which they have sound so beneficial for if we be truly Religious be our Condition never so despicable or deplorable we may be sure of help from Heaven was not all mankind become hopeless and helpless when God made bare his holy Arm and helped us by him that was the strength of his Right hand (a) Isai 63.5 dispersing our lofty spiritual enemies who thought they had us sure their slaves for ever And when these enemies are thus scattered shall we fear Sathans broken forces those instruments of his that would discourage us in our obedience by slanders and contempt wrongs and injuries menaces and threatnings No surely we have the strength of God for us his finger could destroy them his hand crush them to nothing (b) Psal 118.15 Magna Dei efficacia per digitum majâ—r per manum maxima per brachium iâ—dicatur Psal 77.16 Exod. 15.6 Grot. but he will imploy the might of his arm in it although the very breath of his displeasure nay the thought and imagination of his heart (c) August legi◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in cogitatione cordis sui be sufficient to consume them and dissipate all their Counsels be they never so mighty in the worlds eye or high in their own imagination they cannot harm us nor shall not discourage us from serving God How did the Princes of the world the Jewish Pharisees and Gentile Philosophers scorn the beginnings of the Gospel designing to crush it by Power or disgrace it by pretended holiness or confute it by subtle arguments but contrary to all their expectations Jesus prevailed over the oftentation of the Pharisees the learning of the Philosopher and the legions of the Roman Emperors so that by an Omnipotent but Invisible arm in a few ages his enemies vanished and Princes Crowns were laid at his feet Read the Word of God and observe the methods of his Providence and you shall find He hath ever appeared an enemy to those Proud and lofty ones (d) Aesopus rogatus quid Jupiter agit Resp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hes who are inthroned in their own vain-glories and suppose they have strengrh enough to secure their grandeur his irresistible arm shall pull them down and set up those they despise in their place whereby he gives not only an evidence of his Power but of his Wisdome and Justice for disappointment and poverty is the most smarting punishment to pride and insolence and honour and exaltation is so unexpected to the humble that they will be most thankful for it and most careful to use it to his honour who bestows it on them Jacob and Joseph Gideon and David were the youngest and least considerable in their fathers houses Leah was hated and Hannah whose song of Praise 1 Sam. 2.1 Mary here imitates she was despised and so was this blessed Virgin who was so mean and obscure that the honourable Ladies and stately Dames of Israel who were all ambitious to be the mothers of the Messiah would have scorned her a place among their hand-maids yet they are passed by and she is designed to this felicity and she magnifies the Lord for it but those that are great and full of Earthly honours expect these favours as their due and cannot desire them with the hunger and thirst of the poor and lowly nor return their thanks with the like Devotion therefore these are disappointed of their hope and sent away empty (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicuntur qui ad aliquem veniunt beneficium expectantes non inveniunt Luc. 20.10 11. Job 22.9 and the Mercy is given to those that least expected it and will be most thankful for it Let us therefore be lowly in heart when our condition is low and if we have a sense of our wants and desire his help we shall be lovely in his eyes though the world trample on us he will exalt and fill us with all good things even to our own admiration and the envy of those who did despise us the world is full of instances of these dispensations of Providence but the most excellent and illustrious testimony that ever was appeared in the spiritual advantages which the Israel of God received in the giving the Messiah since we were then just ready to sink into ruine had he not laid hold of us (f) Heb. 2.16 and by his mighty arm rescued us from the Pit we were justly abdicated by God our Father and disinherited but Jesus comes to reconcile us and in him we are restored to favour
(g) Filius abdicatus in gratiam rediens Graecis dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scult exer and received into grace again and thus the Promise made to Abraham is made good and the Lord becomes the God of his seed for ever Oh my soul acknowledge the gracious dealings of thy most merciful Father but above all praise him for the mercies of the Gospel for what comfort were it to be raised by the fall of our temporal enemies to a fading honour if a miserable Eternity did succeed but now by Faith in Jesus thou art not only secured in thy low estate but mayest behold an immoveable Throne an immortal Crown prepared for thee high as Heaven while all the proud workers of iniquity shall fall low as hell never to rise again Glory be to the Father c. The Paraphrase of the Magnificat O Praise the Lord with me all ye that behold his inexpressible goodness which hath exalted my affections and filled My soul with such glorious apprehensions that with all its powers it doth magnifie and set forth the admirable greatness of the Lord my mind also and my spirit ravished with the contemplation of his infinite goodness doth rejoyce with joy unspeakable in God who hath vouchsafed to become my Saviour I cannot sufficiently express his Mercy nor my gratitude For he that is the Majesty of Heaven by his marvelous condescension hath regarded and cast a gracious eye on the poverty and the lowliness of my condition who am so inconsiderable and never aimed higher then to be reputed amongst the meanest of his servants and called by the name of his handmaiden I am most despicable in the worlds eyes and vile in my own yet he hath conferred on me a high and lasting honour for behold he hath passed by the more noble and chosen me to be the Mother of the worlds Saviour so that from henceforth whenever this mercy is mentioned to the honour of God his favour toward me will be remembred by the people of all generations who shall bless God for it and shall call me blessed and account me happy above all women But I will freely acknoâ—ledge it was not my own merit nor strength that hath advanâ—ed me For he that is mighty in Power and infinite in Mercy most freely hath exalted me and hath magnified me his poor unworthy hand-maid his therefore is the glory his the praise and holy and reverend is his Name which I and all his servants will ever love and honour For I am not the only instance of his goodness nor do I confine my Praises to my particular occasion all the world sees and knows that his favour And his mercy is ever shewed on them that fear him so that holy and pious men are blessed by him and shall be throughout all generations while the world endureth Ye servants of the Lord consider how in all the course of his Providence especially in this great Redemption He hath shewed strength and a mighty Power for with his arm he hath secured and lifted up his own and by it he hath scattered the forces and baffled the designs of the proud who thought they only deserved to be respected by God and were so high and safe in the imaginations of their hearts At all times he disappoints such expectations and now as at other seasons he hath put down the wise the honourable and the mighty from their seats and thrones on which their pride had mounted them And hath exalted to that honour the humble and meek even those whom the arrogant most despised He hath filled most plenteously the souls of the hungry that earnestly desired the least favours and satisfied their longings with good things beyond their expectations and the rich whose pride made them think themselves fittest objects of his bounty and yet their abundance abated their desires after it these he hath disappointed and sent empty away And as in all other cases so now He remembring the constant method of his mercy and seeing his peoples distress hath holpen and again restored his servant Israel and all faithful people to favour and the hopes of glory as he promised to the Saints of former ages and particularly to our forefathers to Abraham that he would give a Saviour to Redeem and bring deliverance to us and to his seed for ever The second Hymn after the first Lesson viz. the XCVIII Psalm § 4. SOmetimes instead of the Blessed Virgins Song we use this Psalm to express the same thing even the might of Gods arm and the affections of his heart both shewed to his people Israel his true Church and this is one of Davids triumphant Hymns composed upon some miraculous victory over the enemies of the truth and being intituled a new Song may be applied in the Mistery to the glorious Conquest made over Sin and Sathan by the mighty arm of Jesus or in the letter to those deliverances of the faithful mentioned in the Lessons and a new heart will make it every day a new song by a renewed sense of the Divine goodness for here the people of God incourage one another to praise him for his works which are so admirably contrived ver 1. so mightily performed ver 2. so clearly manifested ver 3. to his own people and all the world ver 4. Wherefore the exhortation is renewed and inlarged and all the world is invited to joyn in this Hymn ver 5. and shewed how to praise him with heart and voice and all sorts of Musick ver 6. and 7. no part of the Earth must be silent but the Inhabitants of Seas (h) Arab. populi fluviorum c. populi montium Clament c. Aspice venturo laetentur ut omnio seclo and flouds hills and valleys must rejoyce not only for past mercies but for the Kingdome of Christ which every temporal deliverance minds us of when he shall come to free his servants from sin and misery and exercise such justice in the trial of all the World that his Saints shall sing a new song of Victory to him for ever in Heaven and we on Earth in hopes of it do at present rejoyce and say Glory be to c. The Analysis of the Nunc Dimittis Luke 2.29 Herein Simeon sheweth 1. The greatness of his joy which appeareth 1. In offering his very life 2. In his readiness to meet death so Willingly Peaceably 2. The reason of it which was 1. His particular happiness 1. In the fulfilling the Promise 2. In the beholding his Saviour 2. The Universal good because 1. Christ was visible to all 2. Beneficial to all bringing light glory to the Gentiles Jews A Practical Discourse on the Nunc Dimittis The first Hymn after the second Lesson § 5. THE Author of this short and comprehensive Hymn was a man eminent for his exact Justice vigorous Devotion lively Faith and extraordinary inspiration and of this the holy Text assures us and it is
to pray to my Victorious Redeemer to rescue me from the snares of Sathan whom he hath conquered to obtain my justification in Heaven and to compleat my sanctification on Earth that I may serve him in new obedience and never lye as dead in sin more Art 6. I do also most firmly believe that the work of our Redemption being finished on Earth he ascended as a glorious Conquerour with great triumph into Heaven from whence he came and sitteth there in great glory now interceding for us and pleading his merits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty that we may be admitted thither for his sake Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to lift up my heart to him and trust in him in all my troubles to hope for the acceptance of my services to ascend thither now in my thoughts affections and desires that I may hereafter ascend in Person and have the full prospect and fruition of his glory And I am encouraged to call upon my glorified Mediator that he will preserve me in peace on Earth fill my soul with longings after Heaven and procure my acceptance there And that his power over Men and all Angels and his interest at the Throne of God may be imployed to bring me to himself Art 7. I do also most firmly believe that though Jesus be now in heaven yet at the end of the world from thence he shall come again most gloriously attended with millions of Angels to try and to judge all the world according to their deeds both the quick which shall then be found alive and the dead though departed never so long before Wherefore I am obliged and resolved daily to expect and diligently to prepare for his coming to Judgment by frequently examining and severely judging my self before by careful avoiding that which would then condemn me and by leaving all evil actions of others to receive their sentence at his Tribunal And I am encouraged to make my supplication to my Judge who also is my Saviour that he will forgive me and all my enemies and to beseech him to prepare us for this day by his Grace and to acquit us in it by his infinite merits and then none can condemn us for ever Art 8. Furthermore I believe most firmly in the third Person of the glorious Trinity the Holy Ghost the sanctifying spirit who is very God and by his assistance and blessing on the means of grace doth instruct convert strengthen and comfort all pious and pure souls Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to honour the holy Word of God to attend on all his Ordinances to follow the good motions of this blessed Spirit and in a lively hope and expectation of the assistance thereof to resist all evil and apply my self to all that is good And I am encouraged to pray by the help of this good Spirit for a blessing on the Word and Sacraments and all Religious duties that I may by them become still more wise and holy till I am sanctified throughout in Spirit and Soul and Body Art 9. I do also most firmly believe that God is and ever was acknowledged by and hath and ever will defend the Universal society of Believers in all ages and places called the holy Catholique Church who are all united unto Christ their head by grace and to one another by love as appears by the Communion of Saints in all offices of Piety and Charity among themselves Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to live in unity peace and charity as a useful member of this Church to adhere to the Faith professed by it to joyn in the Ordinances Administred in it and to do good to all that belong unto it And I am encouraged to pray with my bretheren for the encrease safety and peace of this Church for the flourishing of Religion the prosperity of the Princes sâ—ccess of the Ministers and unity of the members thereof that by our Concord and good works we may all appear living members of Christ Art 10. I do also most firmly believe that I and all true Christians upon our unfeigned Faith and hearty Repentance shall obtain the forgiveness of and a Pardon for all our sins through the merits and intercession of Christ Jesus Wherefore I am obliged and resolved never to forsake Christs Church to which this priviledge doth belong diligently to repent of all my Transgressions and chearfully to serve my God without fear neither doubting the truth of his Promise nor the sufficiency of my Redeemers merits And I am encouraged daily to make an humble Confession of my siâ—s with earnest supplications for Absolution and hearty Petitions that I may repent so truly that I may abhor and forsake all iniquity here and be fully acquitted from it at the last and great day Art 11. I do also most firmly believe that not only our souls remain after death but our whole man shall be restored to life again by the resurrection of the body howsoever corrupted or dispersed and its reuniting to the soul at the voice and by the power of the Son of God Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to keep this body in temperance soberness and chastity while I live to resign it chearfully when I dye to be steadfast unmoveable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord since I know my labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And I am encouraged to pray through the first begotten from the dead for the sanctification of my vile body and a part in the first Resurrection that over me the second death may have no power and that I may be delivered in the greatest miseries of this life and supported under the very Agonies of Death Art 12. And finally I do most firmly believe that the wicked shall remain in endless torments while Gods faithful servants shall enjoy his presence and the society of Saints and Angels in the life whose joys are unspeakable and its glories everlasting which Faith I seal with a most hearty Amen Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to suffer patiently whatever happens in this transitory life to spend the moments thereof well to despise the short and empty pleasures of sin and to esteem nothing too good to loose too difficult to resist or too tedious to perform for the obtaining this happiness And lastly I am encouraged to pray to the purchaser of this Glory to comfort me in all the troubles of this life with the hopes and to carry me through all my duties here by the desires thereof and finally to bring me to the fruition of this bliss the fulfilling of all these hopes and desires hereafter Amen SECTION XII Of the Versicles and their Responsals before and after the Lords Prayer § 1. THe Lord be with you Answ And with thy Spirit If we have sincerely repeated our Creed together we have professed our Faith in God and declared our unity and agreement with one another and then we have cause to hope our Prayers will prevail
with God and pray every day more heartily to him to deliver him from them and to be more thankful if by the divine mercy he do escape them § 8. But that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to do alwaies that which is righteous in thy sight through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen If by all that hath been said and our own sad experience we are become so wise as to see we are insufficient for our own conduct I hope we shall in this Petition most humbly commit our waies to the Lord that he may direct our paths and that he may as David speaks (u) Prov. 3 6. â—sal 37.5 and 23. Ideo Deus secundet ac bene fortunet omâ—â—â— eventus in cursu vitae nostrae nempe quia nihil tentamus quod non ei placeat Calv. in loc Psal 37. order all our goings and make them acceptable to himself and then they shall be prosperous If his good Spirit be our guide (x) Psal 51.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we shall seldome fall into danger never into sin Oh let us earnestly beseech him that his grace may direct our hearts and his Providence order our lives that we may be blessed in our going out and coming in in our studies and labours commerce and society eating and recreations in our prayers and praises that in all our actions natural civil and religious we may design his glory and be successful The proud man thinks his doings good enough if they are pleasing in his own sight (y) Prov. 16.2 and 21.2 and Prov. 14.12 Quicquid volunâ— homines se bene velle putant though evil wâ—ies do frequently appear so to us and thus we may deceive our selves into an unexpected ruine by absolving our selves even when God condemns us The Hypocrite believes his acâ—ions excellent if the world commend them if the complying and fashionable out-sides of Religion present him righteous in the eyes of men he supâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 waies prudently ordered But we must rememâ—â—â—â—e are not judges of our own nor of one anothers works but must all stand before the judgment seat of God wherefore it is his approbation that we desire It is not the opinion of the malefactor nor the vote of his fellow-prisoners but the sentence of the Judge that must save or condemn Having therefore such a Tribunal to appear before let us beg large measures of his grace to lead us for he will approve of no waies but what his Spirit directs us into and that had need be excellent that appears so to an all-seeing eye Our lives must not be guided by the loose rules of Custome if we expect they should be accounted righteous in his sight But they must be ordered by the exact rule of his holy word and then though all the world condemn us we shall be prosperous here and finally acquitted hereafter Perhaps we judge it impossible our waies should ever appear righteous in his sight but we are mistaken for if we take him for our guide he will not be strict to mark unavoidable defects And it is not our performances but the effects of his own grace that he approves of Nor yet doth he count them righteous for any merit that is in the works or the persons doing them but through the merits and obedience of the Holy Jesus in whose name we therefore make this Prayer not expecting our supplications can be heard or our actions justified for their own worth but through Jesus Christ our Lord desiring he will please by his intercession and merits so to recommend our Persons and Devotions that we may be sanctified by his grace justified by his mercy and finally may be for ever glorified with him and for his sake Amen The Paraphrase of the Collect for Grace O Lord We thy poor finite Creatures upon this Earth do daily remember with much comfort that thou art our heavenly Father and hast pitty on us and being an Almighty and everlasting God art all-sufficient and alwaies able to help us The remembrance of the dangers of the last night doth engage us most heartily to praise thee who ha st safely kept our souls and bodies therein and brought us intire in both to the beginning of this day And this thy Providence doth incourage us to beseech thee graciousâ—y to defend us from all kinds of evil which this daies occasions may expose us to and to keep us in the same by thy mighty power which alone can make us safe Consider our frailty O Lord and grant that this day we may discover and overcome all the temptations of the world the flesh and the devil so that we fall into no sin let us not by any iniquity great or small displease thee hurt our souls nor run by our own folly into any kind of danger and that we may avoid all the mischiefs with which we are environed we pray that we may not be left to our selves but that all our doings and undertakings in spiritual or temporal concerns may be this day and ever guided by thy Spirit and â—rdered by thy wise and faithful governance for while we follow thy direction thy grace will enable us to do alwaies that which is most profitable to us and best pleasing to thee even that which is though imperfect in it self accounted righteous in thy sight O most merciful Judge through Iesus Christ his merits and intercession for whose sake accept and hear us for he is our Lord and only Saviour Amen SECTION XV. Of the two Collects peculiar to the Evening Prayer WE have chosen this place to insert these parts of the Evening Service because all the following Collects are the same in both parts of the day and the Hymns with these two Prayers being all the difference it is not necessary in our method to separate the Offices and this way every thing comes in its proper place only omitting what is peculiar to the other part of the day The Analysis of the second Collect for Peace in the Evening Prayer In this Collect are three Parts 1. The Person of whom we ask who is 1. The beginner of all good O God from whom all holy desires all good counsels 2. The perfecter of it and all just works do proceed 2. The thing asked for described by 1. It s Name give unto thy servants that peace 2. It s Quality which the world cannot give 3. The Arguments to prevail for it taken from 1. The benefit of the Petitioners as a means of our 1. Holiness that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandements 2. Safety and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies 3. Comfort may pass our time in rest and quietness 2. The interest of the Mediator through the merits of Iesus Christ our Saviour Amen A Practical Discourse on this Collect for Peace § 1. O God from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works do proceed This Collect hath the same
Deum pro tranquillitate mundi pro Regibus Cyril catech 5. Pro fidelissimis Deo dilectis Imperatoribus Liturg. Chris Memento Domine piissimi fidelissimi Imperatoris Basil in Liturg. to Pray for Kings and all in authority So that it was ever a part of the Churches Publique Devotions to intercede for the Emperours and Princes even while they were enemies to the Faith as all Antiquity doth evince Much more when the Powers of the world became Christian for then they named them in their offices with titles expressing the dearest affection and most honourable respect And surely since we meet in Publique to pray especially for Publique mercies there is not any temporal blessing that is of so universal concern as that we should have righteous and religious Kings guided by wise councels and living in prosperity and Peace For this as the Apostle himself observes (f) Illorum namque salus est nostra tranquilitas Theophil in 1 Tim. 2. Ostendit in nostrum lucrum cadere ipsorum incolumitatem Oecum in loc is every mans advantage The government of a Heathen or a Tyrant is better then Anarchy Change or Confusion And if the Preservation of such were advantageous to Christianity how much more then are we obliged to call upon our heavenly Father for the welfare of Christian Kings who are Fathers of their Country and nursing Fathers to the Church (g) Numb 11.12 Isai 49.23 who execute justice and defend Religion and do good to all quiet and peaceable men Therefore we here call God our heavenly Father to signify it will be a great demonstration of his love to us and Care of us if he please to preserve our Prince whom he hath set over us § 2. High and mighty King of Kings Lord of Lords the only Ruler of Princes We ought to beware that while we give Caesar his due we rob not God of his The splendour of Royal Majesty might be apt to dazle us and make us imagine it had no superior nor needed no supporter To prevent which the Church hath selected out of holy Writ those glorious Attributes of God which declare him to be higher then the Kings of the Earth (h) Psal 89.27 We see every head uncovered before mortal Princes and every knee bending to them which shews they are high in dignity but (i) Eccles 5.8 there is one higher then they who hath greater reverence paid him by Angels then these by their most dutiful subjects If Earthly Kings be judged mighty in Power because of their guards and revenues their forts and armies then who can estimate his power and might against whom such preparations are nothing since he speaks in thunder and can arm all the hosts of heaven nay the meanest creatures upon earth to destroy the highest and mightiest of the sons of men Yet if Kings and their people do confess with holy David that he is the most high and to be feared (k) Psal 47.2 his might shall be the support of their dignity and their power which is assuredly the wisest course for they can never be higher then when they submit to the most high nor stronger then when they trust in the Almighty He who is not only above them as being higher in dignity and greater in power but supream over them a King of Kings and Lord of Lords (l) Dan. 2.47 1 Tim. 6.15 who hath not only some petty Princes of a few Provinces his homagers which is all the greatest Empires in the world can boast of but all mortal Princes are his Vice-gerents since he hath and ever had the absolute disposâ—l of all the Kingdoms upon Earth setting up one and pulling down another as it pleaseth him It may be accounted di honour to a Prince to crave aid of his equal but let not the greatest Monarch blush to bend his knee to the supream Majesty of Heaven whose Vassals and Homagers are all the Governors of this lower world who wear their Crowns by his donation and must resign them at his command How can Kings or Subjects want relief that humbly and earnestly sue to this blessed only Potentate the King of Kings If we that are by the supream disposer of all things placed under Authority want any thing in or for our Governors let us apply our selves to him who is the only Ruler of Princes and hath the hearts of Kings in his hands (m) Prov. 21.1 he can persuade convince and turn them when they will not take advice from their inferiors And he only is the judge of their actions since they are his servants and substitutes to their own master they must stand or fall and are only accountable at his tribunal (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Xiphilin Vide Psal 51.4 Neque enim ullis ad poenam vocantur legibus tuti imperii potestate homini ergo non peccavit cui non tenebatur obnoxius Ambros de loc Nulla creatura judicat regem sed solus Deus ss b. Pirk. Aboth And therefore we have so much the more need to pray for them to their great Lord that he would direct them to do well and to execute justice and guide them who are to rule us that this their mighty power may be our safety and our peace for if it should be otherwise which God forbid we neither will nor can oppose them having no other arms against our Prince but prayers and tears (o) Lachrimae meae arma mea sunt aliter nec debeo nec possum resistere Ambros Orat. in Auxent l. 5. But why should we doubt since we Pray to him that can over-rule the greatest Kings and will not suffer this unless it be as a just punishment to our iniquities Finally let all this create in every soul most honourable opinions of this great God and fill every heart with reverence that is before him when we see our dread Soveraign and all the mighty Monarchs of the Christian world doing obeisance to his footstool and laying down their Crowns at his feet acknowledging they received their dominions from him and hold them by his favour and declaring they trust not in the multitude of their people strength of their Cities nor prudence of their Counsels but though they have Armies and Navies terrible and numerous and Revenues unaccountable they come to the Throne of our God to Petition for his help And all their faithful subjects attend on them and joyn with them who then would not fear before him and trust in him express all possible lowliness in his presence and give him all imaginable glory who liveth and reigneth over all from the beginning and shall do so for ever and ever § 3. Who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth It is an infallible maxime that the less is alwaies blessed of the greater (p) Heb. 7.7 Wherefore being to beg a blessing from the King of Heaven for the Rulers of this World we must first acknowledge
all-seeing eye behold all the dwellers upon earth especially thine anointed ones on whose safety the welfare of the rest depends In all loyal affection to our King we most heartily intreat thee and in all lowly regard to thy glorious Majesty we beseech thee by thy particular providence to defend and with thy especial love and favour to behold thy servant and our most gracious Soveraign Lord King Charles that in his safety and happiness we may have peace and comfort and so replenish him with all holy and virtuous qualities by filling his heart with the grace of thy holy Spirit to make him a most religious Prince that he may in his counsels and intentions alwaies incline to choose that which is agreeable to thy will and in his actions and undertakings ever follow the rule of thy word and walk in thy way And that he may be fitted for the due Administration of so great a charg endue him plenteously with the spirit of wisdom and courage and such an extraordinary measure of all heavenly Gifts as may declare him thy anointed And that he may be every way blessed grant him in health and safety plenty and wealth long to live and prosperously to reign over us direct prosper and strengthen him and his armies that he may vanquish and overcome the policies and forces of all his and our enemies who attempt to disturb our peace And finally since the greatest of men the best of Kings and the longest of worldly joys are finite grant to our dear Soveraign that after this life finished in virtue and honour he may attain a Crown of glory in the Kingdome of everlasting joy and felicity which was purchased by the merits and must be obtained through the mediation of Iesus Christ our Lord to all which we most heartily say Amen be it so The Analysis of the Prayer for the Royal Family This Prayer hath three Parts 1. The Person to whom we Pray described by His Power Almighty God His Goodness the fountain of all goodness 2. The Persons for whom we Pray we humbly beseech thee to bless our gracious Queen Catherine Iames Duke of York and all the Royal Family 3. The blessings desired for them 1. Spiritual gifts and grace Endue them with thy holy Spirit enrich them with thy heavenly grace 2. Temporal prosperity prosper them with all happiness 3. Eternal glory and bring them to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Practical Discourse on the Prayer for the Royal Family § 10. ALmighty God the fountain of all goodness we humbly beseech thee to bless our gracious Queen Catherine Iames Duke of York and all the Royal Family There is as near an alliance between this and the former Prayer as between the persons for whom they are made so that there will be little to be added except where this hath something peculiar And first it deserves our notice that God is called here the fountain of all goodness which is the explication of those Scripture Phrases the well-spring of life and living waters (s) Psal 36.9 Jer. 2.13 and is an acknowledgment that the God we pray unto is absolute and independent having all goodness in and from himself and also inexhaustible for though he bestows his blessings liberally and constantly upon all creatures yet he suffers no diminution nor decay Wherefore though we have now been petitioning for a King who needs extraordinary assistances and large measures of all kinds of blessings yet we know this Ocean cannot be drawn dry but can supply the Branches as well as the root and make all that stock grow and flourish together The Queen and heir to the Crown are the fountains from which we hope blessings shall be derived upon after Generations But here we behold there is a higher fountain which must first replenish them with all that goodness which they convey to us The ancient Church in their prayers did desire the welfare of the Palace and the imperial family (t) Domum tutam Pertul Pro omni palatio Liturg. S. Basil Pontifices eorumque exemplo caeteri sacerdotes cum pro incolumitate principis vota susâ—iperent Neronem quoque Drusum iisdem diis commendavere Tacit Annal. l. 4. Vt pro Domino Imperatore cum suâ prole orationes oblationes augeantur Concil Rhemense can 40. Ezra 6.10 as well as the safety of the Emperour And the practice of the heathens as well as the Canons of the Christians do make it appear fit and rational But if reasons do outweigh examples we may add that we are many waies obliged to pray for the Queen and the Royal family 1. In regard to the glory of God whose honour is advanced by holy example of persons so illustrious whose dignity when it is adorned with piety and goodness may bring virtue into repute and engage many to imitate them 2. In duty to the Kings majesty whose comfort will be encreased both in the holiness and prosperity of persons so neerly related to him and so dearly beloved by him 3. Thirdly in affection to our Country who in this and future generations will have cause to bless God for these prayers if they become prevalent because these are the hopes of succeeding times and our children may be happy in the religious education of such as are to be the pillars of Justice and Patrons of the Church hereafter David had not been so curious in Solomons education but that he knew it was not the Princes personal concern alone but interest of the whole Nation and of all Gods people The Persian Kings desired the Prayers of the Jews for their sons Ezra 6.10 and chose four of their most wise and virtuous Nobility to whom the education of the Prince was committed who as Clem. Alexandrinus tells us were called the Royal tutors and we hope the care of those concerned shall be joiâ—ed to the Churches prayers and then this Petition shall be prevalent § 11. Endue them with thy holy Spirit enrich them with thy heavenly grace Prosper them with all happiness and bring them to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen These particulars are a comprehension of the same blessings in other words which before we desired for the King even spiritual temporal and eternal felicity The persons we pray for are Royally descended nobly educated replenished with all honourable endowments with great riches and vast possessions yet although they need none of the wealth or honours of this world we may wish them greater and better things viz. that their virtue may be parallel to their descent and their graces equal (u) Nemo in nostrûm gloriam vixit nec quod ante nos fuit nostrum est animus facit nobilem Sen. Ep. 44. nay excel all other endowments that they may be rich in good works so as to gain the love of God and of all good men these in the first place to which we desire it may please God to superadd
place (m) Titus 2. ver 11. Vatab. Gratia salutaris c. See Psal 132 ver 16. That the Governours may be prudent the Ministers faithful and the People diligent and all of them ready and vigorous for the duties of Religion and every good work § 3. And that they may truly please thee pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing As the Grace of God is requisite to fit all the members of Christs Church for their several offices and duties so his blessing is necessary to make their labours prosperous Man is called by Philo the coelestial plant having his root reverst (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de insid pejor and seeming to grow from heaven And herein the comparison holds that as plants require the influence of heaven to quicken them and the dew thereof to moisten them so those which are set in the Church the garden of God require the salutary spirit of grace to make them live and the irrigations of the divine blessing to make them spring and bring forth fruit It is not from our pains nor your diligence alone that success must come not from him that plants nor him that waters but from God that gives the Increase (o) 1 Corinth 3.5 6. Whole buckets of water poured on by the hand of man will not so much refresh the Plant as the gentler showers and dew from above wherefore the dew is used to express plenty and abundant increase (p) Gen. 27.28 Deut. 33.18 and 28. Hoseah 14.5 particularly in knowledg (q) Deut. 32.1 Aegyptii eruditionem indicantes coelum pingunt rorem fundens Caussin Hieroglyph Horax 35. of which the dew falling from the Clouds was the Hierogliphick among the Aegyptians Let us then most passionately gasp for this prolifick dew that we may not only please God by our constant and ready attendances upon Prayers and other offices but truly and throughly please him by our fruitfulness under these means let it appear by our humility and charity our justice and innocence by the success of the Ministers and the improvement of every Congregation that we do not receive the Grace of God in vain For he is ready to give his blessing if we be fit to receive it he will not only sprinkle but pour it on us because we need large measures and that not only at some seldome seasons but continually at both the morning and evening Sacrifice least affliction or temptation should wither us Oh! what Soul doth not long to be thus watered since nothing can fructify without it nor can any thing dye or be barren that doth enjoy it Let us humbly pray that the good orders of our Bishops the prayers and Exhortations of our Ministers and the constant attendancies of our People may be thus watered from above that we may bring forth an hundred-fold and send forth a pleasant favour of good works (r) Et eum à siecitate continuâ immaduerit imbre tunc emittit illum suum habitum divinum ex sole conceptum cui cemparari suavitas nulla potest Plin. lib. 17. c. 5. Genes 27.27 like the fields of Palestina when watered from the coelestial springs And so should every member of Christs Church live and grow and flourish then which nothing is more desirable § 4. Grant this O Lord for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator Iesus Christ Amen We must not allow either the Clergy or People to ask these Petitions with any designs to advance their own glory or to become famous for their gifts or graces For the end must be the manifestation of the glories of our Advocate and Mediator who at his Triumphant Ascension gave divine gifts (s) Ephes 4.8 unto men and accounts those who are endued with them as so many rays of his glory (t) 2 Cor. 8.23 Sunt Christi gloria quia nihil habent nisi dono Christi Calvin It is Jesus who obtains by his pleading at the Throne of grace both the spirit and the blessing for us and it is he that bestows both upon the Church for which he once gave his body and on which he ever sets his love Let him have the Honour of all the holy and religious performances of his Church and let us earnestly desire that by the flourishing of this his body all the world may see the prevalency of his intercession with God the sincerity of his love to his servants his continual care of them and bounty to them which will surely cause all people to advance and magnifie his holy name Nothing is more the Honour of Jesus now in heaven then that his Church be ruled with pious and wise Governours his Ordinances administred by zealous and holy Ministers and all places abounding with religious loyal and charitable People And what argument will sooner open the ears and pierce the heart of the Father of mercies whose great design is to glorifie his dear and only Son This declares that our Petitions herein comply with his eternal purposes We see the dishonour of some distempered members seems to reflect upon the head and we are grieved for it desiring sincerely the holy Jesus may have as he deserves all glory by the holiness and prosperity of his Church and we hope that Heaven will say Amen hereto The Paraphrase of the Prayer for the Clergy and People O Lord who art Almighty in power and everlasting in duration who hast promised to be ever with thy Church we acknowledg thee the God who alone workest wonders in the calling and hast ever shewed great marvels for the preservation thereof in all Ages wherefore we beseech thee to send down from above suitable gifts and graces upon all estates of men in the Catholick Church particularly upon our Bishops to direct them in the governing upon our Ministers and Curates to assist them in the feeding of thy flock and also upon all Congregations of Christian men and women whose souls thou hast committed to their charge and that the account may be given up to the Ministers comfort and the profit of thy Church let them all be inspired with the healthful and saving Spirit of thy grace to fit them for and assist them in all religious duties And that they all in their several places may truly please thee by a right use of this grace do thou plentifully pour upon them in all holy offices the effectual and the continual dew of thy blessing that thy Messengers pains may be successful and thy peoples lives fruitful in all good works Grant this which we ask of thee O Lord not to advance our own fame but for the honour of him that is our Advocate to obtain them of thee our Redeemer and Mediator to dispense them to â—s for the holiness and happiness of thy Church is the glory of thy dear Son Iesus Christ therefore do thou with us and to us say Amen The Analysis of the Prayer of St. Chrysostome In this Prayer are two Parts
Pride the Tympany (k) Ep. Jude 16. of the mind c. Now the poor Penitent having surveyed himself within and without presents himself before the great Physician of souls and acknowledgeth his want of health he finds the whole head sick with evil devices (l) Isai 1.5 6. and the heart faint with pursuing evil desires and the whole body from inward corrupt Principles overspread with Egyptian ulcers so that if Jesus ask him to what part he shall apply his plaister he will answer Not to my feet only but to my hands and my head nothing but a Panarion can cure him the Head is heavy with Ignorance and dizzy with confused thoughts the Eyes bloodless with Wantonness distorred with Envy and inflamed with covetous desires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 John 2.16 the ears are deaf to Gods Word but itch after vanity and novelties the Tongue blistered with lyes and slanders kindled at the flames of hell * James 3.6 steaming forth filthy and blasphemous Evaporations the Heart is cloven with hypocrisie decayed in the heat of Zeal and Charity the Hands are feeble and soon weary of well-doing the Stomach is overcharged with surfetting and drunkenness and nauseates all sober reproof the Knees are stiff with laziness and irreverence in Gods worship the Feet often lame and alwayes trembling in the wayes of holiness This is the sad account of our infirmities and diseases some of which are almost contrary to others yet all agreeing in this to hasten our death if we hasten not to him who alone hath remedies for us And when we are before him we must not deny any of them for their multitude nor conceal any for their loathsomness for this shame will make our cure impossible (m) Plerosque tamen hoc opus ut publicationem sui aut suffugere aut de dic in diem differre pudoris magis memores quam salutis velâ—t illi qui in vericundioribus corporis partibus contractâ vexatione conscientiam medentium vitant ita cum erubescentiâ suâ pereunt Tertul. de poen cap. 6. and is not to be given way to unless we love our honour better then our eternal safety if any of these plagues should not yet be broke out upon you and you should thence conclude your soundness I shall desire that you would first examine your selves by these symptomes which if you find you may suspect either you are not in health or will not long continue so 1 Decay of the Appetite when the soul doth not hunger and thirst after Righteousness and desire the sincere Milk of the Word (n) Matth. 5.6 1 Pet. 2.1 for a healthy soul cannot be long without them and in the want of them is no more satisfied with worldly delights then your craving bowels are with pleasant Musick such need no arts to invite them to this heavenly food for no business can wholly divert them nor can any difficulty discourage them but to be indifferent whether we have it or no is a bad sign and to nauseate it a worse 2. An ill digestion when the Word doth not inlighten you nor Sacraments engage you nor Prayer spiritualize you nor Reproof amend you when Mercies do do not quicken your love but encrease your security when Afflictions do not bring you to Repentance but fill you with discontent when these Divine things are putrified and Venome and Corruption extracted from them it is time to take heed for a disease is not far off which may be also gathered from 3. A general listlesness and disability in the members of our body and faculties of our souls for the discharge of their several parts in Gods service we may then fear a spiritual lethargy although perhaps the tongue be active still (o) Prov. 26.14 and Chap. 13.14 and is exercised in speaking of Religion and commending the wayes of God nay and many seemingly passionate wishes be added that we may alwayes walk in them yet if the hands hang down and the knees and legs be feeble if the work be still undone this soul is in no Athletick Constitution Nor yet that wherein there is 4. A superfluity of humours if the Choller of Passion the Flegm of Sloth the Melancholly of Despair or the Sanguine of Levity and Voluâ—tuousness too much abound you are in the borders of a disease and had need consider if you are not too hot with Partiality and violent Zeal nor too cold with Atheistical indifferency too moist with discouraging griefâ— nor too dry with unfruitful vanity But 't is to be feared a little Examination will discover some if not most of these Symptomes in us all and were there but half as mâ—ch to portend a mortal sickness to our body we should not stay for an adviser but run to or presently send for the Physician (p) Venienti occurrite morbo sero medicina paracur Cum mala per longas invaluêre moras let me but desire us much care here where the distemper is in the nobler part and the danger Death Eternal your better half is dying and if you love your selves make haste to Jesus for speedy help Flatter not your selves because its signs are not yet so evident or its present force so formidable for by being despised it will gain strength and take root and perhaps despise a cure at last Aristides dyed of the bite of a little Weazle which he neglected till it became incurable and then cryed out in a desperate Rage O me miserum c. Miserable wretch that I am if it had been a Lyon I had sought a Remedy Happy are they that dress their green wounds and purge out their noxious humours betimes so shall they not languiâ—h under a tedious sickness nor be tormented with the pains of an irresistible Gangrene Some do suppose the Penitent after the full View of his many and grievous sins is here looking round about to find whether there be any way to escape or means of deliverance but being disappointed he humbly acknowledgeth there is no health that is no (*) Psal 146.3 in quibus non est salus Vulg. Qui servandi facultatem non habent Vatab. Salus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ap LXX Ps 132.9 alibi ambiguè usurpantur pro sanitate salute unde Psal 119.155 in Vet. Trans Health in Nov. Tran. Salvation is far c. per Metonym salus pro mediis ad salutem necessariis unde Psalm 42. ult Vet. Transl Help of my countenance Nov. Tra. Health of c. h. e. Ab his malis nos servare non habemus potentiam adjuvandi medâ—ndi liberandi facultatem salvation or meanes of help or power to procure health or deliverance among the Sons of Men. We can destroy our selves but in God is our hope Hos 13.9 In vain do we hope for salvation from great or smal Jerem. 3.23 For no man can deliver himself nor his brother Psal 49.7 Salvation alone belongeth to the Lord Psal
3.8 So that being compassed with so much guilt and finding no help on Earth it becomes the Soul in this fear with Jehosophat 2 Chron. 20.12 to fly to heaven and say I have no might O God against this great Multitude of transgressions that is set in array against me neither know I what to do but my eyes are upon thee my onely refuge and last hope and unless I find health and help in thee I must inevitably Perish But Lord do not cast me off but have mercy c. But although this sense be very genuine we may take the freedome for the inlarging our thoughts and assisting our Devotions to pursue the Metaphor and explaine it in that manner as a generall inference c. § 8. But thou O Lord have mercy upon us miserable sinners When we have thus discovered our deplorable condition we must not run away from God by the entertainment of despairing thoughts both because it is impossible to escape him (q) Non est quo fugias à Deo irato nisi ad Deum placatum August in Psal 7. and by attempting to fly from God we run into the evils we fear and hasten from him that alone can help us to what we desire and need Let us come therefore but not with the Pharisees I thank thee (r) Luke 18.11 but with the Publicans Lord be merciful as the Church from his Example hath taught us And when we are before him let us not ask any favours till we have begged a removal of the evils which are upon us viz. The guilt the punishment and the dominion of sin which are here so contrived into three Petitions that every one is joyned with a Motive to enforce it so that our Misery pleads for Mercy our free Confession cries for a removal of the Punishment and our hearty Reformation begs deliverance from all our contracted Indispositions The first thing in our view is our present Misery which is so plain we cannot over look it and so great we cannot but feel it and we are taught to beseech our God to look upon it for Misery is the proper object of Mercy (s) Misericordia est alienae miseriae quaedam in nostro corde compassio qua utique si possumus subvenire compellimur August Civ Dei l. 9. c. 5. That benigne Attribute is ever looking upon the Creatures present sufferings without reflecting on the deserts of the sufferer and is moved with the sight of a distressed Person whatever be the cause of his calamity Therefore when nothing else in God can give any comfort to a poor sinking sinner that knows he is not more miserable then he hath made himself by his wickedness then he can lay hold of this The Publican that dares not look up to heaven can yet say Miserere and as Mercy is the sinners chiefest comfort so it is that Attribute that moves God to forgive and pardon (t) Rom. 11.32 Hebr. 8.12 Psalm 51.1 2. so that to beg for mercy and desire forgiveness are all one as in that eminent Penitential Psalm David begins with Have mercy on me and immediately explains it by the removing his offences in like manner here we pray for pardon in our Have mercy on us because Mercy is the Almoner to distribute this principal act of Divine bounty and grants out all pardons It is not from any desert in us but a meer compassion of our distress and a pure act of Free grace that disposeth God to take away sin * Isai 43.25 We have no friend in the Court of Heaven to obtain it but Mercy and no Argument to plead for it but Misery if we come with We have prayed fasted waited (u) Isai 58.3 we seem to apply our selves to Gods Justice But he that from a heart secretly groaning under the apprehensions of its distress cries out for Mercy because he is Miserable he shall pierce Mercies ears and cause her to open her compassionate eyes to see and stretch out her gracious hand to help and if she be thy Advocate she will cause the bowels of the Almighty to yearn upon thee (x) Jerem. 31.20 Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vide 1 Reg. 3.26 prop. viscera matris vel iâ—volnera quibus foetus in utero continetur at saepe pro misericordid Dei with the same affection that the tender Mother did when she heard the cryes of her poor sprawling infant under the merciless sword of the bloody executioner But then you must be sure first to view your sin and danger fully that you may be fully convinced of your Misery and cry in a pungent sense thereof most earnestly Lord have Mercy for otherwise this will be a feigned cry and an intolerable abuse of this sweet Attribute what can provoke God more then for a man to call Mercy forth which is ready enough to come and then through impenitence or laziness or not discerning our need of it to send it back empty alas such are more miserable because they see not their misery (y) Nihil est miserius misero non miserante seipsum and they are never like to be delivered from that misery because by these feigned calls they have so often mocked God and affronted this their only friend that if at last they call in earnest when Death is before their eyes Mercy then will not come § XI Spare thou them O God that confess their faults The elder brother that knew the fidelity and constancy of his service expects a large reward but the poor Prodigal that was conscious of his offences will esteem it a high favour to escape a severe Chastisement and utter exclusion from his Fathers house and presence they that are not sensible of their guilt fear not punishment and esteem a deliverance scarce worth the asking But he that considers the multitude of his own offences and Gods abhorrency of them and remembers the terrors of his threatnings and strictness of his justice the fierceness of his anger when he begins and the impossibility of avoiding that stroke which no place can hide him from (z) Josh 8.20 Non erat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in eis Manus ad pugnandum vel pedes ad fugiendum RR. LXX Vulg. Masius Nen erat iis locus ut Deut. 2.37 C. P. J. nostr Vers Non erant in eis vires ita Drus no hands resist no feet fly from nor no strength endure To this poor soul Gods pity is desirable and it is accounted a great mercy he hath not yet felt the weight of Gods wrath such an one begs earnestly he never may feel it or however not sink eternally under it he can pray as heartily before the stroke come as otheâ—s when the smart extorts it from them When the Israelites heard the cry of Egypt and saw the slaughter of so many first born (a) Exod 12.13 Fagius in locum they then thought it a mercy not to be slain worthy the celebrating with